Azerbaijan’s demining efforts highlighted in Washington
The Embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States organized a roundtable discussion at the Hudson Institute, Washington-based think tank.
The event brought together representatives from the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and embassy officials, News.Az reporte, citing local media.
Samir Poladov, ANAMA's Deputy Chairman of the Board briefed Michael Doran, Senior fellow and Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute and participants of the event about the humanitarian demining operations in Azerbaijan.
Deputy Chairman Poladov emphasized that since the end of the Second Karabakh War, 385 Azerbaijani citizens have fallen victim to landmines. Of them, 315 sustained injuries, 70 lost their lives, and 152 incidents occurred outside the former contact line in the liberated territories.
According to him, another civilian fell victim to a landmine explosion in Aghdam district recently.
He noted that approximately 5% of the budget for humanitarian demining has been sourced from international donors, while the rest is covered by Azerbaijan’s own funds.
Subsequently, a detailed presentation was made on the existing landmine problem in Azerbaijan and the ongoing efforts to combat landmine threat.
Since November 10, 2020, more than 190,000 hectares of land have been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance. During this period, over 36,000 anti-personnel mines, 21,000 anti-tank mines, and 133,000 unexploded ordnance have been detected and removed.
Poladov also noted that the U.S. Marshall Legacy Institute has provided Azerbaijan with more than 90 mine-detection dogs to support the country’s demining efforts.
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