ANAMA: Most mine incidents caused by failure to follow safety rules

Most mine-related incidents in Azerbaijan occur due to citizens" failure to comply with safety rules, Rauf Huseynov, Chief of Staff of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, said at the event "Safe Future for the Great Return" held in Baku.

According to him, mines and unexploded ordnance remain not only a physical obstacle to the restoration of the liberated territories but also a serious humanitarian threat.

"They are remnants of an 'invisible war' that for years has held hostage people"s lives, their dreams and their future," he stressed.

Huseynov cited alarming statistics: over the past 30 years, more than 3,500 citizens of Azerbaijan have become victims of mines. Since November 2020 to date, 259 mine incidents have occurred, affecting 421 people.

"Of these, 72 people were killed and 349 sustained injuries of varying severity," he added.

The ANAMA official also emphasized that following the Patriotic War, 262,026 hectares of land in the liberated territories have been cleared, with 246,585 mines and unexploded ordnance detected and neutralized.