US extends $38 million in mine assistance to Azerbaijan

  05 April 2024    Read: 527
  US extends $38 million in mine assistance to Azerbaijan

In an ongoing effort to combat the threats posed by landmines, the United States has reaffirmed its commitment to global mine awareness and assistance initiatives by extending $38 million in anti-mine assistance to Azerbaijan since 1999.

This significant contribution was underscored by the US Embassy in Azerbaijan in a recent statement on the social network X, AzVision.az reports. 

"On this International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the USA is committed to reducing these threats worldwide and is the leading financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction, aiding more than 120 countries," the US Embassy emphasized in its statement.

The mine action in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan launched by ANAMA shortly after the 2020 war revealed the heavy contamination of the residential areas, agricultural lands, riverbanks, forests, and cemeteries with landmines and unexploded ordnance.

The accuracy of the previously provided information on minefields laid by Armenia in the Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan districts of Azerbaijan was only 25%.

Since the Second Karabakh War in 2020, as many as 345 Azerbaijanis, including civilians and servicemen, have been victims of mine blasts that caused 65 deaths and 280 injuries.

In 2023, in joint efforts by ANAMA, the Defense Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, and the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, around 53,082 hectares (128,700 acres) of territory in the liberated lands were cleared of mines. The number of neutralized anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines, and unexploded ordnances were 3,495, 5,034, and 23,049, respectively. 

The government of Azerbaijan estimates at least one million mines laid by Armenia during the years of occupation. The Karabakh (Garabagh) and East Zangazur regions of Azerbaijan have been extensively mined since the 1990s by Armenian armed forces.

 

AzVision.az


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