Azerbaijan

Mine Action

Last updated: 13 December 2017

Contaminated by: landmines (heavy contamination), cluster munition remnants (medium contamination), other unexploded ordnance (UXO), and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO).

Non-signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Non-signatory to the Mine Ban Treaty

At the end of 2015, almost 70km2 of antipersonnel mine contamination was suspected in areas under government control in the Republic of Azerbaijan. No update on the total mine contamination was provided for the end of 2016. In 2016, 1.47km2 was reduced by technical survey and 0.83km2 was cleared, with the destruction of two antivehicle mines, but no antipersonnel mines. This was a decrease from 2015. During battle area clearance (BAC), 17 antipersonnel mines were destroyed.

No cluster munition contamination has been reported since 2011 in areas under government control.

There is mine and cluster munition contamination in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, including new cluster munition contamination occurring in 2016 (see Nagorno-Karabakh’s Mine Action profile for details).

Recommendation for action

  • Azerbaijan should report on its plans and timelines for clearance of all known or suspected mined areas under its effective control.

Contamination

Mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination in Azerbaijan is the consequence of the 1988–1994 armed conflict with Armenia—which saw landmines laid by both sides—and ammunition abandoned by the Soviet army in 1991. The most heavily contaminated areas are along the borders and confrontation lines between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh (see separate report on Nagorno-Karabakh). Apart from Nagorno-Karabakh, the adjoining districts of Gubadly, Jabrayil, Kelbajar, Lachin, and Zangilan, and parts of Aghdam, Fizuli, and Tartar are under the control of Armenian forces, and are suspected to contain mines and UXO.[1]

In government-controlled areas of Azerbaijan, no cluster munition contamination has been reported since clearance last took place in 2011. However, there are significant quantities of cluster munition remnants in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, including new contamination occurring in 2016 (see Nagorno-Karabakh’s Mine Action profile for details).

Mine contamination

The precise extent of contamination from antipersonnel mines in Azerbaijan is unknown, as Armenian forces currently occupy a significant area of the country where considerable contamination exists. The area suspected to contain antipersonnel mine contamination in Azerbaijan as of the end of 2016 has not been publicly reported. At the end of 2015, 69.9km2 of area was suspected to contain antipersonnel mines.[2] The extent of contamination in areas occupied by Armenia is unknown, although the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) has suggested that contamination may cover between 350km2 and 830km2, and contain between 50,000 and 100,000 mines.[3]

Cluster munition contamination

In government-controlled areas of Azerbaijan, no cluster munition contamination has been reported since clearance last took place in 2011. However, there are significant quantities of cluster munition remnants in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, including new contamination occurring in 2016 (see Nagorno-Karabakh’s Mine Action profile for details).

The precise extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants is unknown as Armenian forces currently occupy a significant area of the country where the contamination exists. There may also be some minimal contamination in territory under government control.

In 1988, a decision by the parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia led to hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan from 1988 to 1994. Large quantities of cluster munitions were dropped from the air during the conflict.

In 2007, the Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines (AzCBL) surveyed cluster munition contamination in the non-occupied border regions of Azerbaijan. It concluded that cluster munitions (among other ordnance) had been used in the Aghdam and Fizuli regions.[4] In 2006 and 2007, remnants were found in and around warehouses at a former Soviet ammunition storage area located at Saloglu in the Agstafa district, where clearance was completed in July 2011.[5]

In addition, significant cluster munition remnants have been identified in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.[6] On 1 April 2016, intense fighting broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh along the frontline pitting Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh forces against those 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, which resulted in an estimated 2km2 of new cluster munition contamination in Nagorno-Karabakh.[7] No cluster munition contamination has been reported on the Azerbaijan-controlled side of the Line of Contact.A ceasefire was agreed upon on 5 April 2016 (see the separate report on Nagorno-Karabakh).

Other explosive remnants of war

Other areas are confirmed or suspected to contain ERW, which include both UXO and AXO. These include former military testing areas, including the former Soviet firing and training ranges at Jeyranchel in the Agstafa region and in Kirdagh; and a former shooting range in Ganja.[8]

Program Management

ANAMA reports to the deputy prime minister as head of the State Commission for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.[9] In April 1999, ANAMA established the Azerbaijan Mine Action Program, a joint project of the government of Azerbaijan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).[10] A joint working group, established in December 1999 and consisting of representatives from various ministries, provides regular guidance to ANAMA.[11]

ANAMA is tasked with planning, coordinating, managing, and monitoring mine action in the country. It also conducts demining along with two national operators
it contracts: Dayag-Relief Azerbaijan (RA) and the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF).[12] No commercial company is active in mine action in Azerbaijan.

ANAMA manages the mine action program visits headquarters based in Baku, the regional office in Fizuli, and regional training center in Goygol, and three operational centers located in Aghjabedi, Agstafa, and Terter.[13]

The UNDP provides support to ANAMA, and will continue to do so until 2019, as part of a project to support
the institutional capacity of ANAMA for mine/UXO clearance, risk education, and victim assistance.[14]

Strategic planning

ANAMA is integrated into the State Social and Economic Development program.[15] The current mine action strategy is for 2013–2018.[16] ANAMA’s long-term strategy is to clear the occupied territories as and when they become released.[17]

Legislation and standards

As of June 2017, Azerbaijan was still in the process of adopting a mine action law, with draft legislation under review by the Cabinet of Ministers.[18] Once adopted, it will regulate mine action in Azerbaijan, governing issues such as licensing, accreditation, quality assurance (QA), and tender procedures.[19]

Azerbaijan also has its own National Mine Action Standards (NMAS), which were adopted in 2001 and subsequently revised in 2003, 2004, and 2010.[20]

Operators

As of the end of 2016, ANAMA employed 619 operational and administrative staff and had 44 mine detection dogs (MDDs) and six demining machines.[21] Included in this capacity are two national demining NGOs, IEPF and RA, which are contracted for mine clearance. Together they employ 172 operational and administrative staff. ANAMA also has an MDD breeding and training center.[22]

Quality management

In 2016, one battle area site required re-clearance (83,125m2), with 29 items of UXO and 87 related components found to have been missed by the original clearance.[23]

Land Release (mines)

The total mined area released by clearance and technical survey in 2016 was almost 2.3km2,[24] a reduction compared to the almost 5.36km2 of clearance and technical survey in 2015.[25]

Survey in 2016 (mines)

A total of almost 1.47km2 was reduced by technical survey in 2016, of which 0.93km2 was reduced by technical survey using mechanical assets,[26] and 0.54km2 by technical survey using MDDs.[27]

Clearance in 2016 (mines)

Azerbaijan cleared almost 0.83km2 of mined area in 2016, comprising 0.65km2 of manual clearance and 0.18km2 of mine clearance with the support of MDDs. During clearance only two antivehicle mines were destroyed (see table below).[28] This is a significant decrease in area cleared compared to 2015, when AMAMA cleared almost 1.5km2 of mined land; 1.04km2 through manual clearance and 0.45km2 with MDD support.[29]

Besides the mined area along the confrontation line (in the accessible territories of the Nagorno-Karabakh region), ANAMA conducts manual mine clearance operations around former military facilities.[30]

Mine clearance in 2016[31]

Operator

Mined areas cleared

Area cleared (m²)

AP mines destroyed*

AV mines destroyed*

UXO destroyed*

ANAMA CT

3

148,115

0

0

0

IEPT

4

342,134

0

2

2

RA

4

338,009

0

0

0

Total

11

828,258

0

2

2

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle mine.
* Table includes the items destroyed only during mine clearance and not technical survey.

Battle area clearance and EOD spots tasks

AMAMA tasks its emergency response team (ERT) or the national NGOs—depending on the location of the call-out—to respond to EOD requests from the local community, government bodies, and international humanitarian organizations.[32] ANAMA reported that EOD tasks were conducted daily following the short but intense fighting pitting Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh forces against those of Azerbaijan in April 2016.[33] ANAMA, IEPF, and RA responded to a total of 811 requests in 2016, during which they found 5,404 explosive items in 26 regions of Azerbaijan.[34]

Furthermore, during 2016 ANAMA completed the second phase of the three-phase Azerbaijan National Action Plan (NAP)/NATO PfP Trust fund project, at the former artillery shooting range in Jeyranchel, in the Agstafa region, along the Azerbaijan-Georgian border.[35] ANAMA also continued implementation of the Ganja and Kirdagh UXO clearance projects of former military testing ranges. During ERW clearance in 2016, ANAMA cleared 100 sites, totaling 50.5km2, during which it destroyed 17 antipersonnel mines, one antivehicle mine, and 30,201 items of ERW; IEPF cleared 22 sites, totaling nearly 12km2, during which it destroyed 2,237 items of ERW; and RA cleared 24 sites, totaling nearly 3.2km2, during which it destroyed 665 items of ERW.[36]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

No land containing cluster munition remnants was reported to have been released by clearance or survey in territory under government control in 2016.[37]

Progress towards completion

Over the last five years, 15.4km2 of mined area
has been cleared in Azerbaijan, but mine clearance output has decreased sharply over the last two years (see table below).

Mine clearance in 2012–2016[38]

Year

Area cleared (km2)

2016

0.83

2015

1.49

2014

4.80

2013

4.63

2012

3.65

Total

15.4

 

Currently, 90% of mine action in Azerbaijan is state funded.[39]

 

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the mine action research in 2017, including on survey and clearance, and shared all its resulting landmine and cluster munition reports with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

 



[1] Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2014,” p. 7.

[2] Email from Tural Mammadov, Operations Officer, ANAMA, 19 October 2016.

[3] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 5.

[4] AzCBL, “Information Bulletin,” January 2008.

[5] ANAMA, “Saloglu Project,” undated.

[6] Interview with Nazim Ismayilov, Director, ANAMA, Baku, 2 April 2010; see also Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Mines Action Canada, Ottawa, 2009), p. 188.

[7] Email from Andrew Moore, Caucasus and Balkans Desk Officer, HALO Trust, 26 May 2016; and HALO Trust, “HALO Trust begins emergency clearance in Karabakh,” 19 April 2016.

[8] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 16.

[9] Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), “Transitioning Mine Action Programmes to National Ownership: Azerbaijan,” March 2012, Executive Summary.

[10] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 11.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 11.

[14] UNDP, “UNDP Mine Action Programme: Azerbaijan,” April 2016.

[15] Email from Tural Mammadov, ANAMA, 19 October 2016.

[16] Email from Parviz Gidayev, ANAMA, 20 May 2015; and ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 10.

[17] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2014,” p. 5; and GICHD, “Transitioning Mine Action Programmes to National Ownership: Azerbaijan,” March 2012, Executive Summary.

[18] Email from Sabina Sarkarova, Public Relations Officer, ANAMA, 5 June 2017.

[19] Email from Parviz Gidayev, ANAMA, 20 May 2015; and ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2014.”

[20] Email from Tural Mammadov, ANAMA, 19 October 2016.

[21] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 11.

[22] Ibid., pp. 12 and 14.

[23] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 25.

[24] Ibid., pp. 13, 14, and 16.

[25] ANAMA, “ANAMA Monthly Report for August 2016.”

[26] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 16.

[27] Ibid., p. 14; and ANAMA, “ANAMA Monthly Report for January 2017.”

[28] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 13; and ANAMA, “ANAMA Monthly Report for January 2017.”

[29] ANAMA, “ANAMA Monthly Report for August 2015,” and “ANAMA Monthly Report for August 2016”; and email from Tural Mammadov, ANAMA, 19 October 2016.

[30] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” p. 13.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid., pp. 9 and 16.

[33] Ibid., p. 17.

[34] Ibid., p. 18.

[35] Ibid., p. 16.

[36] Ibid.

[37] ANAMA, “Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 2017,” undated; and email from Sabina Sarkarova, ANAMA, 5 June 2017.

[38] See Landmine Monitor and Mine Action Review reports on clearance in Azerbaijan covering clearance in 2012–2015.

[39] G. Ahmadov, “Advocating Mine Action to Government of Azerbaijan,” Geneva, 19 February 2016; and email from Tural Mammadov, ANAMA, 19 October 2016.