Azerbaijan finds over 1,300 mines laid by Armenia in Lachin region

ANKARA (AA) – Baku has found more than 1,300 mines laid by Armenian troops in the Lachin region, which lies between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has said.

During the last two weeks, a total of 1,318 mines have been detected in anti-personnel minefields, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that the mines were produced by Armenia in 2021 after the Second Karabakh War.

The ministry noted that in line with international law, the 1997 Ottawa Convention banned the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.

Furthermore, it said, Armenia violates the requirements of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and “disrespects” the international community by planting anti-personnel mines.

“All of this is a deliberate crime against peace and security in the region and the environment, which once again demonstrates the hostile intentions of Armenia,” the ministry concluded.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh (Upper Karabakh), a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

During the conflict in the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for nearly three decades.

A Russian-brokered deal in November 2020 brought an end to the conflict.