President’s aide: Azerbaijani female sappers join demining operations in Karabakh

Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev has shared a publication in social network X, dedicated to female sappers participating in the demining of Azerbaijani territories.

“Brave women sappers of Azerbaijan putting under the potential risk their physical safety are in field operations to clear landmines infested territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia to save lives, to eradicate the ‘seeds of death’ and render these lands safe and secure for children, families and communities,” Caliber.Az quotes Hajiyev as saying in the publication.

Earlier, eighteen newly-trained female sappers have received accreditation certificates after a six-week demining course in Azerbaijan, supported by the European Union.

The award ceremony was held in Baku with the participation of high-ranking officials from the Mine Action Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ANAMA), the European Union, UNDP, and other officials, according to EU NeighboursEast. 

Through theoretical and practical training conducted by international experts from the Mine Advisory Group (MAG), the teams of female deminers acquired basic knowledge and the necessary skills to recognize, detect, and mark mines and unexploded ordnance, as well as first aid. 

As a result, two demining teams of 24 people, including deminers and medical officers, were accredited. In addition, the project trained 12 demining rats and 8 demining dogs. 

The training of the first-ever female demining teams was organized within the framework of the EU-funded project “Supporting the Safe Return of Internally Displaced Persons through Capacity Building”, implemented by ANAMA, UNDP, International Eurasia Press Foundation (IEPF), and MAG.