BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 30
Trend:
Works on cleaning the area, envisioned for the reconstruction of the road leading to the village of Sugovushan in the Tartar district, from mines and unexploded shells are underway, Chief of the Operational Headquarters of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) Idris Ismayilov told journalists, Trend reports.
According to Ismayilov, these works are carried out manually, by mechanical machines, and with the help of mine detection dogs.
“To date, 169 mines and unexploded shells have been found and cleared. Eight kilometers of the ten-kilometer road have already been cleaned. The rest of the work will be completed within the next 3-4 days,” he said. “In total, as a result of search operations conducted by the agency since September 27, 750 unexploded shells, about 4,500 antipersonnel mines, and about 2,000 anti-tank mines were found. At present, operational search work is underway in areas not cleaned from mines and unexploded shells.”
The agency’s chief also noted that it’s planned to demine the settlements within 3-5 years and to complete the cleaning of the territories within 10 years. This 10-year period provides for a complete solution to the problems associated with mines, cleaning remote mountainous areas, arable land, and pastures from them. The return of citizens to these territories will be carried out earlier.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.
Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
