Land mines in Nagorno-Karabakh

- the most common AP mine in Karabakh. Artsakh has stated that it has never produced or exported mines, and has not purchased new mines since 1995; its mine stockpile consists of mines left over from the former Soviet Union (PMN, PMN-2, POMZ-2, OZM-72, TM-57 and TM-62 mines). In 2013, the military forces of Nagorno-Karabakh reported they planted more anti-personnel mines along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact, east and north of disputed area. ==Victims==

It is impossible to give the exact number of people injured or killed in Nagorno-Karabakh from landmines because of a lack of any records during the war itself, as well as no complete information available up until 2000. According to the Artsakh Ministry of Health, between June 1993 and May 1999 the number of victims of explosions, including landmines, was 687 (180 killed and 507 injured). Since the cease-fire in 1994 to the end of 2004, 326 mine/UXO casualties were reported, including at least 77 people injured since 2000. As of 2019, the Red Cross mission in Nagorno-Karabakh had registered 747 cases of landmine victims, of which 59% were civilians. An estimated 69,000 residents in 60 villages in Armenia are afflicted by the problem. After the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, seven Azerbaijani troops and 18 civilians have died and more than 100 have been wounded by land mines in the area of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. ICBL perspective According to Landmine Monitor in 2003, 21 new mine and UXO casualties were recorded in Nagorno-Karabakh, including nine people killed and twelve people injured. Casualties increased significantly in the first six months of 2004, with 30 new mine/UXO casualties recorded; eleven people were killed and nineteen injured, including three children. New landmine and UXO casualties had been decreasing since the ceasefire in 1994. In 1995, there were 86 casualties, 64 in 1996, 25 in 1997, 16 in 1998, and 30 in 1999. There were fourteen casualties (five killed and nine injured) in 2000, nineteen casualties (four killed and fifteen injured) in 2001, and seventeen casualties (all injured) in 2002. According to HALO, the increasing casualty numbers are the result of record harvests produced in recent years and a greater investment in agriculture. As farmers try to increase their agricultural boundaries, more suspected mined areas are being ploughed—despite advice from HALO and the government, and the presence of danger mine signs. Most incidents involve antivehicle mines. The number of annual incidents per capita in Nagorno-Karabakh is far higher than other heavily mine-affected countries such as Cambodia or Afghanistan. The thirty new casualties in 2004 represent 2.5 people for every 10,000 inhabitants. In 2004, 34 new mine/UXO casualties, including ten people killed and 24 injured, were reported in 25 incidents; another nine people were involved in the incidents but did not suffer physical injuries. At least three of the casualties were children. This represents a further significant increase from the 21 new mine/UXO casualties recorded in 2003. Of the 25 incidents in 2004, fourteen were caused by antivehicle mines, seven by antipersonnel mines and four by UXO. In 2004, one deminer was injured during mine clearance operations. ==Survey and clearance==

Survey The HALO Trust is the only agency that conducts minefield survey, mapping and marking of Nagorno-Karabakh. Since 2000, HALO has surveyed more than of land, and this survey was ongoing in 2005. HALO reports that it marks all the suspect areas it surveys with “Danger Mines!” signs. Post-clearance survey is carried out on a case study basis on some sites, as most areas are handed over and used almost immediately after they have been cleared. There is no information on the number of mines laid along the current border-line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan, but it is common knowledge that mines were being laid by both sides along the border during several years after the end of the conflict. It is estimated that far greater mine clearance capacities will be required when the peace agreement is signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia Clearance The Artsakh Defense Army had an engineering battalion that is involved in the clearance of minefields of strategic importance. The HALO Trust is the only other organisation conducting demining in Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1995 and 1996 HALO conducted an 18-month-long programme in Karabakh that established a mine clearance capacity for the local authorities. This included a survey of the region and the equipping and training of deminers. The teams operated without assistance for three years and whilst they successfully cleared hundreds of mines, their equipment had degraded and accurate records of clearance had not been kept for some time. HALO resumed mine clearance in Karabakh in 2000 with a view to reinforcing capacity through a project of re-equipment, providing additional training and by establishing a mine action centre (MAC). The MAC collates information concerning mines, UXO and safe routes, and disseminates it to all who require it, in particular other NGOs and international humanitarian bodies operating in Karabakh. Mine clearance in Karabakh by the HALO Trust continues to the present day. According to the Landmine Monitor, in 2004 the HALO Trust cleared 3.6 square kilometers of affected land through manual and mechanical demining, and a further 450,000 square meters in 2005 through April. It concentrated clearance on farmland, and re-focused mine risk education on adults, in view of mine casualties rising as agricultural production increased. By the end of 2004, ICRC had provided safe play areas for children in 27 villages. From 2000 to 2003, HALO cleared of affected land manually, cleared by battle area clearance, surveyed , and destroyed 2,167 antipersonnel mines, 977 anti-vehicle mines and 8,710 items of UXO. In 2015, a private family foundation based in the US pledged up to $4M in matched funding to aid an attempt to clear Karabakh by 2020. In March 2021 the ANAMA and the UNDP signed cooperation agreement to clear the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone from mines. This collaboration is not new; during the last 20 years, ANAMA and the UNDP have collaboratively destroyed over 800,000 mines and other explosive devices. == Reactions to the HALO Trust activities ==

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan has been vehemently against the demining activities by the Halo Trust in disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Saying that it "perpetuates and encourages Armenian forces’ occupation of Azerbaijani territory." In July 2011 Azerbaijani government blacklisted and banned the organization from Azerbaijan in protest for its mine clearing operation in disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Additionally Azerbaijan refused to agree to extend the mandate of the OSCE office in Yerevan unless the office ended its humanitarian demining-related activities. US Minsk Group ex Co-chair Carey Cavanaugh in October 2017 commented regarding Azerbaijan's efforts to shut down the Halo Trust: Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Representative of the leader of Nagorno-Karabakh on special assignments Boris Avagyan claimed that HALO Trust handed over minefield maps to Turkish special services, which, in his opinion, helped Azerbaijan’s successful military operations during the second Karabakh war in the fall of 2020. Ayvagyan claimed that under the pretext of studying dangerous areas, this organization carried out reconnaissance work throughout the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Opposition MP Naira Zohrabyan supported these claims. HALO Trust said the accusation was "an absolute lie". ==After 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war ==

On June 4, 2021, 3 Azerbaijani civilians, including two journalists, died as a result of a mine explosion in the Kalbajar region. On 12 June 2021, Armenia handed over minefield maps in the formerly occupied Agdam region to Azerbaijan in exchange for the extradition of 15 Armenian POWs, who were supposed to have been extradited many months ago per the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, who were detained in Azerbaijan despite calls from a number of countries and organizations for their release. The acting Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook on 13 June 2021. “We have handed over minefield maps but this is a tiny part of the maps that we have,” Pashinyan noted. Pashinyan also stated that he is ready to hand over all the minefield maps to Azerbaijan in return for all the Armenian POWs, that are still being held in Azerbaijan in breach of the Point 9 of the ceasefire agreement and the Geneva converntion. By June 2021, Azerbaijan reported seven of its soldiers, and twenty of its civilians had died in mine explosions since the conclusion of the 2020 war. British-made mine flail vehicles have been purchased and brought to the area to accelerate the demining of the area. On July 3, 2021 Azerbaijan handed over 15 detained Armenian soldiers in exchange for maps detailing the location of around 92,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in the formerly occupied Fizuli and Zangilan districts. Released soldiers were all from Shirak region in Armenia, detained after the ceasefire. A statement released after 14 December 2021 trilateral meeting between Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan and Charles Michel in Brussels stressed the importance of resolving key humanitarian issues, while stating that “all remaining mine-maps” had been handed over by Armenia. On November 23, 2020, due to a landmine explosion in Madagiz, four members of the Artsakh Emergency Ministry, and one Russian peacekeeper were injured. Additionally, one soldier of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces was killed. In a separate incident on April 24, 2021, a vehicle of the Russian peacekeeping contingent struck an anti-tank mine, injuring two Russian peacekeepers moderately. The 2022-2023 blockade of Artsakh has made it more difficult for HALO trust members to conduct their work. ==See also==