The work of the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) is fast becoming an example of best practice in mine-action, so much so that the UK Ministry of Defence have used the Azerbaijan model to develop one similar for Ukraine once that conflict is brought to an end, said an article by Matthew Offord, Member of Parliament for Hendon and Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Explosive Threats, News.Az reports.

The article, entitled “Azerbaijan – a land of oil, of progressive thinking and of landmines”, was published on APPG’s website.

Recalling his trip to the destroyed Aghdam city of Azerbaijan in May last year, Offord noted that during the almost 30 year long conflict with Armenia, thousands of mines were laid, and thousands of bombs, missiles and shells were dropped on the territory of Azerbaijan.

The APPG chairman stressed that with the help of international NGOs and the financial assistance of the UK government, ANAMA is clearing away the unexploded remnants.

“Over 19,000 hectares of land and over 55,000 explosive devices have so far been cleared. There is still a huge amount to do and as new technologies come into use the process of clearance should speed up considerably,” he added.

News.Az