Note: CHA = confirmed hazardous area; ERW = explosive remnants of war; UXO = unexploded ordnance.

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 Armeniaand 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 submunitions as a result of the 1988–1994 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and new mine contamination was added in 2013.

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.[1] The mines were of Soviet design and manufacture, and due to the nature of the conflict certain areas were mined several times.[2]

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 antipersonnel landmines this year along the Armenian-Azerbaijani ‘line of contact’ east and north of the disputed territory.”[3] (See the Mine Ban profilefor further details.) As of the end of 2017, 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 over 3.5km²across 73 mined areas (see table below).[4] This is down from 4.41km² across 75 mined areas as at the end of 2016.[5] The difference in total mine contamination between the end of 2016 and end of 2017, cannot be explained or reconciled by the total area released.

Antipersonnel and antivehicle mine contamination covered a total of 86 areas over 5.1km² as of the end of 2017. As of beginning of September 2018, antipersonnel mine contamination had fallen slightly to just over 3.42km² across 73 mined areas.[6]

Antipersonnel mine contamination by province (at end 2017)[7]

As of April 2017, 88% of mined areas across the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh had been cleared, including 97% of all known minefields in Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh.[8] Of the remaining mined area, 82% is in “green areas” (areas between the traditional Soviet boundary of the autonomous oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh, the militarized line of contact with Azerbaijan, and other international borders), and the remaining 18% is within the traditional Soviet-era boundaries.[9] Mined areas remain along the line of contact with Azerbaijan, but are inaccessible for clearance as this remains a conflict zone.[10] Minefields in Nagorno-Karabakh are prioritized by two main factors: the density and type of minelaying, and their impact (including proximity to population and economic impact). HALO Trust has traditionally given highest priority to agricultural areas. Minefields with a higher number of direct beneficiaries have also been prioritized.[11] The vast majority of designated high-priority minefields have now been cleared.[12] Limiting factors, such as climate and donor priorities, mean that, during this process, clearance is not necessarily always conducted according to a simple prioritization matrix.[13]

Most people living in mine-affected areas in Nagorno-Karabakh are dependent on the land for their livelihoods.[14] 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.[15] The bulk of the remaining antipersonnel mine threat in Nagorno-Karabakh is located in wooded hillsides between former Armenian and Azerbaijani military positions. As such, the most vulnerable group of Karabakhis are adult men who are engaged in woodcutting, hunting, and foraging (though women and children often engage in the latter activity as well). A 2017 study from the University of Southern California (USC) into the effects of landmines on livelihoods shows a direct relationship between mines and economic development. According to the analysis of survey data gathered by HALO from over 200 rural households, “the presence of landmines causes, on average, a 45% decrease in overall household economic welfare among the rural population of Nagorno Karabakh.”[16]

Cluster munition contamination

The exact extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants in Nagorno-Karabakh is not known, but it is significant and widespread.[17] At the end of 2017, cluster munition contamination (both surface and subsurface) was estimated to be 71.62km² across 212 CHAs, in seven of a total of eight districts (see table below).[18] This represents a small increase in cluster munition contamination of 0.18km² from 2016[19] to 2017, despite clearance in 2017, following confirmation of three suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) totaling 1.5km² in the Askeran district.

Cluster munition contamination by district (at end 2017)[20]

In 1988, a decision by the parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia resulted in armed conflict from 1988 to 1994 between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Large numbers of cluster munitions were dropped from the air during the conflict. Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence in 1991 but this has not been internationally recognized.

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 use of cluster munitions. A ceasefire was agreed on 5 April 2016.[21] HALO Trust estimated the four days of hostilities added 2.4km² of cluster munition contamination.[22]

More than two-thirds of remaining contamination is in Askeran, Martakert, and Martuni. Most of the remaining cluster munition remnants are located in woods and hillsides, where the threat endangers the lives of woodcutters, foragers, and domestic livestock grazing in common areas around rural settlements.[23]

Program Management

A mine action coordination committee is responsible for liaising between the local authorities and HALO Trust.[24] Regular coordination committee meetingsare held between the local authorities, HALO, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).[25]

In 2000, HALO established the Nagorno-Karabakh Mine Action Center (NKMAC), which consolidates all mine-action-related information and responds to requests from the government ministries, other NGOs, and local communities.[26]

Legislation and standards

No national standards exist in Nagorno-Karabakh and HALO follows its own standard operating procedures (SOPs).[27]

Quality management

HALO uses its own quality management systems, with quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) applied by four levels of management.[28]

Information management

The NKMAC maintains maps and a database of all suspected hazardous areas surveyed, all areas cleared of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), locations of all mine- and ERW-related incidents, and a record of all risk education given.[29]

Operators

Since 2000, HALO Trust has been the sole organization conducting land release in Nagorno-Karabakh. Operations cover both mine and cluster munition remnants clearance, and HALO does not field separate teams dedicated solely to either. Operational staff are trained and experienced for both.[30]

At the peak of its clearance activities in 2017, HALO had 153 staff in demining and survey roles, an increase over the 142 personnel employed the previous year. Between January and December 2016, its total capacity for mine and cluster munition operations grew from nine operational teams to 15.[31] As of August 2017, HALO was employing 21 manual demining teams, two mechanical demining teams, and two survey/explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams. In August 2018, HALO had increased its manual demining teams to 28.[32] In 2017, it employed one manual team to complete clearance of the cluster munition strikes from the April 2016 fighting.[33] HALO then employed two teams for occasional cluster munition clearance between April and October 2017.[34]

HALO deployed two armored front loaders in 2017, as it did in previous years. Machines are predominantly deployed in clearance of roads with a plastic TM62P antivehicle mine threat, and on ground where it is more cost effective for antipersonnel and antivehicle mine clearance due, in most cases, to high levels of metal contamination.[35]

While survey and clearance are ultimately conducted by HALO alone, the Nagorno-Karabakh Rescue Service is involved in various stages of the broader process. For example, the Rescue Service often receives information from local communities about mine contamination, which it shares with HALO. The Rescue Service is also part of the QA process through its participation in the handover ceremony when HALO officially returns formerly mined areas back to local communities for safe and productive use.[36]

Land Release (mines)

Just over 0.29km² was released by clearance in 2017 while 0.29km² of mined area was cancelled by non-technical survey and 0.27km² was reduced by technical survey. An additional 0.13km² was reported by HALO Trust as cancelled, due to overly large polygons. This compares to the 0.12km² of mined area that was cleared, 0.28km² reduced by technical survey, and 0.36km² cancelled by non-technical survey in 2016.[37] A further 0.22km² was confirmed as containing antipersonnel mines in 2017.

Survey in 2017 (mines)

In 2017, two mined areas in Hadrut totaling 555,849m² were released through survey, of this 285,747m² was cancelled by non-technical survey and 270,102m² was reduced by technical survey.[38] Five suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) were confirmed as containing antipersonnel mines in Askeran, Lachin, and Martakert covering 219,355m².[39]

In addition, HALO Trust also cancelled 132,024m² due to overly large polygons following clearance of mined areas in Lachin, Martakert, and Martuni.[40]

In 2016, HALO trialed the use of special detection dogs (SDDs), provided by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), for the reduction of SHAs and CHAs in Nagorno-Karabakh.[41] HALO Trust has not used SDDs since the 2016 trial ended and a report will be published once follow-up clearance behind the SDDs clearance has been completed.[42]

As of August 2018, HALO was conducting survey to quantify the remaining landmine contamination in Nagorno-Karabakh, working in areas that had not been surveyed in the past. This process will continue through to the end of 2018 and into 2019.[43]

Clearance in 2017(mines)

In 2017, a total of 28 mined areas covering 292,176m² were released by clearance along with the destruction of 88 antipersonnel mines, 19 antivehicle mines, and 36 items of UXO.[44] In addition to planned clearance, HALO destroyed 38 antipersonnel mines during EOD spot tasks in 2017.[45]

Clearance and EOD spot tasks in 2017

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

During 2017, HALO found one mine for every 1,974m² of land cleared during antipersonnel mine clearance tasks. HALO also cleared two minefields (one antipersonnel and one mixed antipersonnel/antivehicle) without finding any mines. This is largely because the majority of more densely mined areas have already been cleared.[46]

Land Release (Cluster Munition Remnants)

A total of some 1.1km² of area contaminated with cluster munition remnants was released by clearance in 2017,[47] compared with 3.3km²in 2016.[48] A total of 0.26km² was released by survey in 2017.

Survey in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

In 2017, HALO reduced 2,659m² of land by technical survey in the Martakert region and 260,000m² of land by technical survey in the Martuni region. HALO also confirmed three areas totaling 1.5km² in the Askeran region as cluster munition-contaminated.[49]

Clearance in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

HALO cleared 1.06km² of area containing cluster munition remnants and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) in 2017, during which seven submunitions and one other item of UXO were destroyed. Three areas were released by clearance and one other, in the Askeran district, was suspended at the end of the demining season.[50]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2017

In 2017, HALO completed clearance of cluster munition remnants in the villages of Nerkin Horatagh and Mokhratagh in the northeast Martakert region, which resulted from the April 2016 fighting.[51] Between 10 August 2016 and 28 February 2017, HALO cleared 723,130m² of land through sub-surface clearance and a further 50,000m² through surface clearance, of which 171,300m² of sub-surface clearance was completed in 2017.[52] Overall, HALO found and destroyed 17 submunitions through this clearance, though none was found in 2017.[53]

In addition to planned clearance, HALO destroyed 45 submunitions during EOD spot tasks in 2017.[54]

The clearance output in 2017 decreased from the previous year. In 2016, clearance output was high due to the emergency clearance of the April 2016 contamination.[55] HALO’s cluster munition clearance operations continue to remain a “secondary” activity, as per the donors’ request to prioritize mine clearance.[56] Submunition clearance is conducted on days when minefields cannot be accessed safely due to adverse conditions.[57]

The average per square meter cost of cluster munition clearance has been gradually increasing year on year, which may partly be accounted for by the increase in sub-surface BAC in recent years.[58] In 2017, one manual team cleared 13,654m² per day, with 15% of the total being sub-surface clearance. This compares to 28,182m² per day in 2012, with 5% of the total being sub-surface clearance.[59]

Progress towards completion of antipersonnel mine clearance

Progress in mine clearance has fluctuated over the last five years, as shown in the table below, but with clearance output averaging below 0.5km² annually.

Mine clearance in 2013–2017[60]

* Includes antivehicle and antipersonnel mines.

HALO Trust has received a commitment from the United States government to complete clearance of all known remaining minefields within Soviet-era boundaries.[61]

One of HALO’s greatest challenges for mine clearance in Nagorno-Karabakh, however, is the reluctance of bilateral donors to fund clearance in areas outside the Soviet-era boundaries of Nagorno-Karabakh. The bulk of the remaining mine problem, however, lies in these surrounding territories. There are also several minefields close to the line of contact that HALO is unable to safely survey or clear, due to ongoing tension between the two sides.[62]

HALO increased its capacity in April and May 2017, principally as a result of an anonymous donor committing funding for manual clearance teams and matched-funding for clearance of “green areas” outside of the traditional Soviet oblast boundary.[63]

In 2018, HALO reported that full clearance of minefields in Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh could be achieved by 2019.[64] Previously, in 2014, it reported that full clearance of minefields in Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh could be achieved within three years if sufficient funding were available.[65] As of 2014, 95% of mine contamination in Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh had been addressed, and this figure had risen to 97% by April 2017.[66]

The majority of remaining mined areas are only accessible during the dry summer months of May to October, and HALO planned to expand its clearance capacity through training and to deploy more teams over this period. As of April 2017, clearance in the “green areas” was focused on high- and medium-priority tasks in the Lachin corridor and Martuni region, with private funding; with clearance of the remaining minefields within the traditional Soviet oblast boundary, conducted with USAID funding.[67]

Progress towards completion of cluster munition clearance

Progress in clearance of cluster munition remnants has fluctuated over the last five years, as shown in the table below. HALO is currently prioritizing clearance of mines, as part of its efforts to complete clearance of all accessible mined areas by 2020, and it deploys teams to conduct BAC only in a reserve capacity.[68]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2013–2017

While surface clearance of legacy cluster munition contamination within the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) boundaries of Nagorno-Karabakh could potentially be completed within a few years, this would still leave subsurface contamination within the NKAO boundaries of Nagorno-Karabakh, in addition to cluster munition contamination in areas outside the NKAO that are under the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh forces. No target date exists for completion of cluster munition clearance.[69]

As of May 2018, HALO was planning to continue to prioritize clearance of mines over cluster munition remnants, and as such has not included cluster munition survey or clearance in its workplan for 2018.[70] Survey and clearance of cluster munition remnants will continue on an ad hocbasis whenever adverse weather or other conditions do not permit safe mine clearance.[71]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from “Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.