Contaminated by: landmines (extent unknown), cluster munition contamination (medium contamination), and other unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Nagorno-Karabakh cannot accede to the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions due to its political status

The size of confirmed mined areas in Nagorno-Karabakh increased to 5.14km² in 2015, as previous data did not include areas outside the Soviet-era boundaries. The exact extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants is not known, but it is significant and widespread. As of the end of 2015, cluster munition contamination (both surface and subsurface) across the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh was estimated to be 67km². 

HALO Trust is the only mine action operator. In 2015, almost 0.21km² of mined area was cleared, 4km² of cluster munition contaminated land was released by clearance and technical survey, and 3.5km² was confirmed as cluster munition-contaminated.

Recommendations for action

• The Nagorno-Karabakh authorities should formally commit to respect and implement the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munitions and clear all antipersonnel mines and cluster munition remnants.
• The Nagorno-Karabakh authorities should provide funding for survey and clearance of antipersonnel mines and cluster munition remnants. 

Contamination

In 1988, a decision by the parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia resulted in armed conflict in 1988–1994 between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence in 1991 but this has not been internationally recognized. All regions of Nagorno-Karabakh have been affected by mines and unexploded submunitions as a result of the 1988–1994 conflict, and new mine contamination was added in 2013.

Explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination is said to “severely” impact upon rural communities, limiting the incomes of thousands of families.[1] There were six casualties in 2015, one accident caused by a cluster munition remnant, and five casualties resulting from mines and other UXO. (See the Casualties and Victim Assistance profile for further details.) 

Mine contamination

Mines were laid by both the Azeri and pro-Karabakh forces during the war, with a relatively high proportion of antivehicle mines being used in some regions, as well as antipersonnel mines throughout.[2] The mines were of Soviet design and manufacture, and due to the nature of the conflict certain areas were mined several times.[3]

New contamination was added in 2013. In July 2013, Nagorno-Karabakh’s military chief, General Movses Hakobian, reportedly stated that “his forces have placed more anti-personnel landmines this year along the Armenian-Azerbaijani ‘line of contact’ east and north of the disputed territory.”[4] (See the Mine Ban profile for further details.)

As at the end of 2015, antipersonnel mine contamination throughout the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh, including both within the Soviet-era boundaries and in the adjacent territories, was estimated to cover 5.14km² across 82 mined areas (see table below).[5]

Antipersonnel mine contamination by province as at end 2015

Note: CHAs = confirmed hazardous areas; AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

Previously, in September 2013, mined area was estimated at 1.6km², of which 0.88km² across 34 areas contained antipersonnel mines and 0.73km² across 15 areas contained antivehicle mines.[6] However, this only included contamination within the Soviet-era boundaries of Nagorno-Karabakh, and not mined areas in adjacent territories.

To date, HALO Trust has cleared 95% of all known minefields in Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh.[7] While progress has been made, around 70% of remaining contamination—consisting mainly of antivehicle mines—is in areas occupied by the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Forces outside Soviet-era boundaries.[8] HALO Trust has operated there throughout its presence in Nagorno-Karabakh, but in recent years HALO’s activities have reduced due to difficulties in attracting funds to operate in these areas. In addition, mined areas remain along the line of contact, but are inaccessible for clearance as this remains a conflict zone.[9]

Mines impede use of land, roads, and other areas, and affect the rural population in particular, whose main income is from herding animals and farming.[10]

Cluster munition contamination 

The exact extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants in Nagorno-Karabakh is not known, but it is significant and widespread.[11] As at the end of 2015, cluster munition contamination (both surface and subsurface) across the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh was estimated to be 67km² across 202 CHAs, in six of a total of eight districts (see the table below). As of the end of 2014, total cluster munition contamination was said to be 42.7km², but only surface (i.e. not sub-surface) contamination was reported that year.[12]

Cluster munition contamination by district as of the end of 2015[13]

In addition, a further 2km² of new cluster munition contamination was estimated to have resulted from use of cluster munitions in the hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in April 2016.[14]

Large quantities of cluster munitions were dropped from the air during the 1988 to 1994 conflict. On 1 April 2016, intense fighting broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh along the front line between Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh forces and the armed forces of Azerbaijan. While ground fighting was confined to areas close to the Line of Contact, artillery fire penetrated more than 10km into Nagorno-Karabakh, and included the use of cluster munitions. A ceasefire was agreed on 5 April 2016[15] (see Nagorno-Karabakh’s 2016 Cluster Munition Ban Policy profile).

Nagorno-Karabakh has cluster munition remnants in most regions, but particularly Askeran, Martakert, and Martuni, where more than three-quarters of remaining contamination is located. The presence of submunitions does not, in most instances, deny access to land, and many cluster munition-contaminated areas have been cultivated continuously for 20 years or more. Most accidents in Nagorno-Karabakh are due to mines, since 2010, of the 25 mine/UXO accidents, only two were reportedly due to cluster munition remnants.[16] 

Program Management 

A mine action coordination committee is responsible for liaising between the de facto government and HALO Trust.[17] Regular coordination committee meetings are held between the de facto authorities, HALO, and the ICRC.[18] 

In 2000, HALO established the Nagorno-Karabakh Mine Action Center (NKMAC), which consolidates all mine action-related information and responds to requests from the de facto government ministries, other NGOs, and local communities.[19] The NKMAC maintains maps and a database that cover: all suspect areas surveyed; all areas cleared of mines and UXO; locations of all mine- and UXO-related incidents; and a full record of all risk education given.[20]

Standards and quality management

No national standards exist in Nagorno-Karabakh, and HALO follows its own standard operating procedures (SOPs). Similarly, HALO uses its own quality management systems, with quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) applied by four levels of management.[21] 

Operators

Since 2000, HALO has been the sole organization conducting land release in Nagorno-Karabakh. HALO’s Nagorno-Karabakh operations cover both cluster munition clearance and mine clearance, and HALO does not field separate teams dedicated solely to mine clearance or cluster munition clearance. Operational staff are trained and experienced in working in both capacities.[22] After the April 2016 conflict, HALO’s survey teams collaborated with the de facto authority’s Service of Emergency Situations to survey new contamination rapidly, and destroy submunitions close to populated areas.[23]

In 2015, HALO employed an average of 120 local staff, and its overall operational capacity for mine and cluster munition operations comprised 11 manual clearance teams, two mechanical teams, and two explosive ordnance disposal (EOD)/survey teams.[24] 

Land Release (Mines)

Almost 0.21km² of mined area was cleared in 2015,[25] compared with 0.54km² in 2014.[26]

Survey in 2015 (mines) 

No antipersonnel mined areas were surveyed in 2015, but four new antivehicle minefields were surveyed.[27]

Clearance in 2015 (mines)

In 2015, a total of 18 mined areas covering 209,221m² were released by clearance. Operations destroyed 65 antipersonnel mines, two antivehicle mines, and 32 items of UXO.[28]

HALO Trust was also called out to 199 EOD tasks in 2015, during which a further 46 antipersonnel mines and 19 antivehicle mines were destroyed, along with 179 submunitions and 907 other items of UXO.[29]

Where possible, clearance is conducted on CHAs, but areas remain that still require technical investigation, in addition to area where technical survey did not produce evidence of mines, but where mine-laying remains strongly suspected.[30]

The ratio of mines found to area cleared is now relatively low, due to the absence of reliable mapping by former combatants; the sporadic nature of antivehicle mine laying in low areas and on former road networks; and the fact that most heavily mined areas have been cleared.[31]

Progress in 2016 (mines) 

As of October 2016, HALO was trialing the use of special detection dogs, provided by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), for reduction of SHAs and CHAs in Nagorno-Karabakh.[32]

Land Release (Cluster Munition Remnants)

A total of 2.9km² of area contaminated with cluster munition remnants was released by clearance in 2015,[33] compared with 13km² in 2014.[34] During battle area clearance (BAC) and EOD operations, 284 submunitions were destroyed. In addition, almost 3.5km² of land was reduced during clearance operations in 2015 as a result of overly large polygons having been drawn.[35] Just over 1.14km² was reduced by technical survey. 

Survey in 2015 (cluster munition remnants)

Just over 1.14km² was reduced by technical survey in 2015. Furthermore, HALO confirmed seven suspected areas totaling 3.5km² as cluster munition contaminated. No area suspected to contain cluster munition remnants was canceled by non-technical survey.[36] 

In order to determine whether a strike requires further clearance, HALO Trust initially surveys a 500,000m² area around evidence of submunitions. Clearance is started from the center of the area and extended outwards. If no further evidence of cluster munition remnants is found, the remaining area is reduced.[37]

Clearance in 2015 (cluster munition remnants) 

Just over 2.9km² of land across nine areas in the Askeran, Hadrut, Martakert, Martuni, and Shushi regions, was released by clearance by HALO in 2015. During manual BAC, 105 submunitions were destroyed, along with eight other items of UXO.[38] The decrease from 13km² of cluster munition-contaminated land cleared in 2014 was partly the result of reduced operational capacity, following the 25% reduction in United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding in 2015.

Furthermore, HALO was called out to 199 EOD tasks in 2015, during which 179 submunitions were destroyed along with 907 other items of UXO and stray ammunition, 46 antipersonnel mines, and 19 antivehicle mines, in addition to the UXO destroyed during planned clearance operations as detailed above.[39] 

HALO’s cluster munition clearance operations continue to remain a “secondary” activity, as per the donors’ request to prioritize mine clearance.[40] Since most reported accidents in Nagorno-Karabakh are the result of mines/UXO, and not cluster munition remnants, HALO believes this prioritization is justified.[41] Most submunition clearance is conducted on days when minefields cannot be accessed safely due to the adverse weather during the winter months.[42] 

Land released from cluster munition remnants in 2015 assisted 192 direct beneficiaries, and 6,315 indirect beneficiaries. The released land will mainly be used for agriculture, grazing, and woodcutting.[43] 

Progress in 2016 (cluster munition remnants)

HALO’s main priority in 2016 was surface and sub-surface clearance of 2km² of new cluster munition contamination resulting from the April 2016 conflict.[44] Emergency clearance was ongoing as of May 2016 in the villages of Nerkin Horatagh and Mokhratagh, close to the town of Martakert in northeast Nagorno-Karabakh.[45] These areas were struck with LAR-160 rockets, containing M-095 submunitions. The emergency clearance operations are funded by USAID, using clearance capacity diverted from HALO’s original workplan.[46] In May 2016, HALO reported that it expected that clearance of the new contamination would be completed within six months.[47] 

In addition, in 2016, USAID-funded teams were also continuing surface clearance of eight legacy cluster munitions strikes, resulting from the conflict in the 1990s.[48] As stated previously, this activity is secondary to mine clearance operations.

Progress in mine and cluster munition clearance

Progress in mine and cluster munition clearance has fluctuated over the last five years, as shown in the tables below.

Mine clearance in 2011–2015[49]

Note: * Includes antivehicle and antipersonnel mines.

Five-year summary of cluster munition clearance[50]

Despite the clear humanitarian need to clear mines and ERW, Nagorno-Karabakh’s unrecognized status prevents many governments from funding humanitarian activities in the territory and HALO receives no funding from Armenia or the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities.[51]

In 2008–2010, HALO cleared an average of between 5km² and 6km² of mined area annually and averaged more than 30km² of BAC. In 2011, however, the United Kingdom interrupted its funding and HALO lost 37% of its capacity; consequently, clearance rates declined.[52]

In 2014, HALO Trust reported that full clearance of minefields in Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh could be achieved within three years if sufficient funding were available.[53] While 95% of mine contamination in Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh has been addressed, reduced capacity means that full mine clearance of that area may take longer than expected.[54]

USAID has instructed that its funding be used for clearance within the Soviet-era boundary of Nagorno-Karabakh oblast, and that HALO focus on mine clearance.[55] However, significant contamination remains in adjacent territories. As bilateral funding is often restricted to the traditional border of the Soviet oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh, funding of clearance of surrounding territories is left to private foundations.[56] (See the Support to Mine Action profile for further details.)

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.