Member of House of Commons of the UK Parliament Matthew Offord has published an article on his recent visit to Azerbaijan as he attended the Baku-hosted international conference on “Humanitarian Mine Action and Sustainable Development Goals.”

In an article, about his visit to Aghdam, the British MP has shared his impressions saying that “Once a city with 30,000 residents, it is now totally destroyed after bitter fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began in 1993. Following a peace deal brokered in 2020, the conflict officially ended and rebuilding has now began. However, the land is heavily contaminated with anti-personal and tank mines as well as unexplored ordnance.”

“Since 1993 there has been approximately 3,500 fatalities in the region, as a result of ordnance. Since the peace deal was signed between the two countries in 2020, there has been a further 180 military and 53 civilian deaths by anti-personal mines, tank mines and other unexplored ordnance. In those two years 19,000 hectares have been cleared of a total 50,000 pieces of ordnance - but this is just 2% of the minefields in Azerbaijan,” Matthew Offord said.

“The UK is playing a huge part in Azerbaijan by providing personnel and resources to remove insidious explosive weapons. These have killed innocent civilians and children, long after the conflict ended,” the British MP added.

News.Az