BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 10. Azerbaijan has firmly rejected Armenia’s baseless accusations regarding the mine threat and reiterated the importance of international assistance in demining territories affected by the occupation, Trend reports.
The response was delivered by the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Office in Geneva and other international organizations during the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Azerbaijan’s statement highlighted that the country remains one of the most mine-contaminated nations in the world. During the Armenian occupation, over 1.5 million mines and other explosive devices were planted across Azerbaijani territories, with more than 13% of the land still heavily mined.
The statement also revealed that mines and traps were placed in civilian-populated areas far from the former contact line, including places where displaced people are expected to return. Cemeteries and cultural sites were also targeted to cause maximum harm.
Since the end of the war in 2020, Azerbaijan has cleared approximately 180,000 hectares of land, discovering 56,460 mines and 121,188 explosive objects. Despite these efforts, the ongoing mine threat continues to obstruct the restoration of liberated territories, complicates the return of internally displaced persons, and hampers efforts to locate nearly 4,000 missing citizens.
Azerbaijan also noted that since 2020, only 6% of the necessary funds for humanitarian demining have been provided from foreign sources and called on the international community to increase its support for these critical demining operations.