ANAMA chair: Saryjaly 008 area in Aghdam is currently being cleared of mines

Currently, the demining operations in the Saryjaly 008 area in the Aghdam district are nearing completion, Vugar Suleymanov, the Chairman of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), told journalists.

According to Suleymanov, mine clearance operations are currently being carried out in the Saryjaly village of the district, in an area allocated for agricultural purposes for the resettled population:

"In accordance with the Great Return program, the resettling of the population in the liberated territories is underway. As a first stage, we have cleared the territory of the Saryjaly village. As a second stage, agricultural lands around the Saryjaly village should be cleared so that the village population can work here.

"The Saryjaly village is one of the areas that fell on the former line of contact. There has been mining here for about 30 years. There is excessive mine contamination. But our forces are working here quite successfully. Currently, the demining operations in the Sarijali 008 area fare about to be completed. After that, we will move on to the next area."

Suleymanov also provided information about the areas cleared of mines after the war and the military ammunition found:

"In general, after the 44-day Patriotic War, about 35,000 hectares of land in the Aghdam district have been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance. Demining activities are being carried out in all liberated regions, as well as in the Gazakh district. To date, more than 206,000 hectares of land have been completely cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance, and about 199,000 mines and unexploded ordnance have been detected and neutralized."