BAKU, Azerbaijan - Coordinates have been identified for several suspected mined areas in Azerbaijan’s Aghdam, Aghdara and Tartar districts, and the verified data is expected to be added to mine maps and provided to the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, or ANAMA.
The work is being carried out under the “Safe Return: Support for Combating the Mine Threat” project, project leader Rey Karimoglu said. Karimoglu is chairman of the Azerbaijan Mine Victims Association.
Specialists are recording the information with software provided by ANAMA. Their sources include mine victims and people with knowledge of where explosive devices may have been placed.
After verification, the coordinates will be sent to ANAMA for use in planning clearance operations.
The project is supported by Azerbaijan’s Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations and the Karabakh Revival Fund, in partnership with ANAMA. Its goal is to make the return of residents safer and support the removal of land mines and other explosive remnants from the affected territories.
Organizers plan to extend the work to other districts. They have not disclosed the number of locations identified so far or their total area.
Sources: Vesti Baku; Report; Trend.