Azerbaijan, Barda, 10 April / Trend corr S. Jaliloglu/ On 10 April, the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) made harmless four unexploded shells and five hand grenades in the Shirarkh village in the Terter region of Azerbaijan. Two 100mm, one 57mm shell, one Grada shell and F-1 hand grenades were made harmless in one of the dwelling houses in the village.
The unexploded shells were buried, during the Nagorno-Karabakh war, by the Armed Forces of Armenia. Armenians occupied the Shirarkh village, but Azerbaijan got it back.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
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