BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 21. Employees of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) have begun work to de-mine the territories in the liberated Ashaghi Seyidahmadli village of the Fuzuli district, where Armenian armed forces committed massacres of Azerbaijanis during the First Karabakh War, Trend’s Karabakh Bureau reports.
An employee of ANAMA Gabil Babayev said that the Armenian armed forces deliberately heavily mined these territories.
"The Armenian bandits knew that people will look for the graves of their loved ones. At the moment, 15 percent of the territory, with an area of four hectares, has been cleared. The area is completely mined. Most of the mines are clearly visible,” Babayev noted. “This suggests that a large number of mines may still be found in this area in the future.”
“After the 2020 Second Karabakh War, the groups of ANAMA found over 81,000 mines and unexploded ordnances in this area. Of these, 14,000 were anti-tank mines," he added.
One of those who have been unaware of their close relatives’ fate for many years is another employee of the agency, a resident of Gazakhlar village of the Fuzuli district Bahruz Mahmudov.
His father, Behbud Mahmudov, went missing during the First Karabakh war. Bahruz Mahmudov said that he hopes to find the remains or things of his father.
The total number of Azerbaijanis who went missing during the Karabakh conflict is 3,890 people, of whom 3,171 people are military servicemen, and 719 - civilians. The missing persons include 71 children, 267 women and 326 elderly people.
