BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 4. Azerbaijan has recorded a total of 3,416 mine victims, including 357 children and 38 women since 1991, the country's Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) Sabina Aliyeva said, Trend reports.
Aliyeva made the remark at the round table event themed "Protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and mine victims in Azerbaijan."
The ombudsperson noted that according to statistical data, from November 10, 2020, following the end of the second Karabakh war that resulted in the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from Armenian occupation, 65 people died and 272 sustained various injuries from mine explosions.
"The rights of persons with disabilities must be constantly protected and promoted; equal opportunities must be created for them in all areas of public life; and educational efforts in this field must be strengthened," she pointed out.
"As a result of Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan during the nearly 30-year occupation and in the subsequent years, there are numerous mines and unexploded ordnance in our territories in the Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur regions, and the Armenian side still refuses to provide accurate data on mine maps and schemes," Aliyeva reminded.
"The global mine terror, which has led to numerous human casualties, severe injuries, and disabilities for thousands of people, creates a serious obstacle to large-scale construction, reconstruction, and restoration work carried out in the liberated territories," the ombudsperson emphasized.
"It also hinders the process of the safe return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands," she added.
Will be updated