BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 19. A total of 7,944 hectares were cleared of mines, and 3,878 mines and unexploded ordnance were found on Azerbaijan's liberated territories in the first quarter of 2023, Trend reports.
This was indicated during the expanded meeting of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) dedicated to the results of the first quarter of 2023.
The meeting was attended by the heads of the Management Council, structural divisions, and operational staff of the Agency.
Vugar Suleymanov, Chairman of the Board of the Agency, delivering his opening speech, noted that mine clearance activities carried out in order to restore and reconstruct Azerbaijan's liberated territories and to provide safe and sustainable resettlement of former internally displaced persons in their native lands have been defined as one of the priorities of the Azerbaijani state.
He also noted the utmost importance of the mine-clearing operations, carried out as part of the 'Great Return' state program on the liberated territories.
At the meeting, reports were heard and discussions were held on the work done in the reporting period in the field of de-mining and the tasks performed in various priority areas. Furthermore, the status of operations, the results of monitoring, and final quality checks carried out to monitor compliance with international de-mining standards, as well as the work done and plans to enhance the Agency's capacity, were also discussed.
At the end of the meeting, relevant instructions were given to improve the effectiveness of mine clearance activities and solve upcoming tasks.
