7,944 hectares of land cleared of mines in 1st quarter of 2023, says Azerbaijan

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Azerbaijan on Wednesday said that 7,944 hectares of land, previously under the Armenian occupation, were cleared of mines in the first quarter of 2023.

During the first quarter of 2023, 7,944 hectares of land were cleared, and 3,878 mines and unexploded ordnance were found in territories liberated from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijani National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) said following a meeting in the capital Baku.

The statement said ANAMA head Vuqar Suleymanov, during the meeting on the results of the agency’s activities in the first quarter of 2023, underlined the importance of demining operations for the purpose of “the restoration and reconstruction of the liberated territories and the safe and stable settlement of the former IDPs (internally displaced persons) in their homelands.”

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.