Notes: ERW = explosive remnants of war; UXO = unexploded ordnance; AXO = abandoned ordnance; BAC = battle area clearance; EOD = explosive ordinance disposal.

Contamination

Mine and ERW contamination in the Republic of Azerbaijan is the consequenceof 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 the area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh (see separate report on Nagorno-Karabakh). The adjoining districts of Gubadly, Jabrayil, Kelbajar, Lachin, and Zangilan, as well as parts of Aghdam, Fizuli, and Tartar, are under the control of Armenian forces, and are suspected to contain mines and UXO.[1]

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 mines in Azerbaijan as of the end of 2017 has not been publicly reported. At the end of 2015, 69.9km² of area was suspected to contain antipersonnel mines.[2]

The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) has reported that additional contamination has been found, mainly in former soviet army firing ranges and training polygons. However, they are unable to give a precise figure for the extent of the contamination saying this will only be known after a country-wide resurvey, which will be carried out once resources are available.[3]

The extent of contamination in areas occupied by Armenia is unknown, although the ANAMA has suggested that contamination may cover between 350km² and 830km², and contain between 50,000 and 100,000 mines.[4]

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 (see Nagorno-Karabakh’s Mine Action profile for details).

The precise extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants in Azerbaijan 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.[5]

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.[6] In 2006 and 2007, remnants were found in and around warehouses at a former Soviet ammunition storage area located at Saloglu in Agstafa district, where clearance was completed in July 2011.[7]

On 1 April 2016, intense fighting broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh along the front line, pittingArmenian and Nagorno-Karabakh forces against those of Azerbaijan. While ground fighting was confined to areas close to the Line of Contact (LOC), artillery fire penetrated more than 10km into Nagorno-Karabakh, and included the use of cluster munitions, which resultedin 2.4km² of new cluster munition contamination in Nagorno-Karabakh.[8] No cluster munition contamination has been reported on the Azerbaijan-controlled side of the LOC.A ceasefire was agreed 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: 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.[9] On 27 August 2017, an explosion occurred at the Khizi ammunition depot and, as of December 2017, 114 items of UXO had been found during emergency clearance of the surrounding area.[10]

Program Management

ANAMA reports to the deputy prime minister as head of the State Commission for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.[11] 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).[12] A joint working group, established in December 1999 and consisting of representatives from various ministries, provides regular guidance to ANAMA.[13]

ANAMA is tasked with planning, coordinating, managing, and monitoring mine action in the country. It also conducts demining operations, along with two national operators it contracts: Dayag-Relief Azerbaijan (RA) and the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF).[14] No commercial company is active in mine action in Azerbaijan.

ANAMA manages the mine action program via its headquarters based in Baku, a regional office in Fizuli, a regional training center in Goygol, and three operational centers, located in Aghjabedi, Agstafa, and Terter.[15]

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, victim assistance, international networking, and support to other mine-affected countries.[16]

Strategic planning

ANAMA is integrated into the State Social and Economic Development program. The current mine action strategy is for 2013–2018.[17] A new strategic plan is currently in development. Its main aims are said to be to continued ERW clearance in support of government development projects, and to provide safe conditions for the local population in affected regions.[18]

ANAMA’s long-term strategy is to clear the occupied territories as and when it is possible to do so.[19]

According to ANAMA all clearance operations are carried out in line with an annual plan approved by the government of Azerbaijan and based on the requests from land owners such as local executive authorities, farmers, and different state organizations involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in ERW-affected regions.[20]

Legislation and standards

As of May 2018, Azerbaijan was still in the process of adopting a national mine action law, with draft legislation under review by the Cabinet of Ministers.[21] Once adopted, it will regulate mine action in Azerbaijan, governing issues such as licensing, accreditation, quality assurance (QA), and tender procedures.[22]

Azerbaijan also has its own National Mine Action Standards (NMAS), which were adopted in 2001 and subsequently revised in 2003, 2004, and 2010.[23]

Operators

At the end of 2017, ANAMA employed 632 operational and administrative staff and had 49 mine detection dogs (MDDs) and six demining machines.[24] Included in this capacity are the two national demining NGOs, IEPF and Dayag, which are contracted for mine clearance. Together, the two organizations employ 156 operational and administrative staff.[25] ANAMA also has an MDD breeding and training center, which was built in 2011.[26]

Land Release (mines)

The total mined area released by clearance and survey in 2017 was 9.06km², a huge increase from the 2.3km² released the previous year.[27]

Survey in 2017(mines)

In 2017, 0.25km² of land was cancelled by non-technical survey and 1.12km² of land was reduced by technical survey, of which 0.25km² was reduced by MDDs.[28]

Machines were used for ground preparation before technical survey, in total 2.5km² of land was prepared by machines in 2017.[29]

Clearance in 2017(mines)

Azerbaijan reported clearing 7.69km² of land in 2017,[30] a significant increase from the 0.83km² cleared in 2016.[31] Of the 2017 total, however, 3.6km² contained no mines. This clearance was conducted by IEPF and RA in the village of Jojuq Marjanli, which had been liberated following the April 2016 conflict and to which IDPs had begun to return. In order to facilitate their safe return, the two demining organizations were rapidly deployed for clearance. Although ANAMA has suggested that this rapid deployment explains the low amount of contamination in the areas that have been cleared it does not explain why significant areas of land were fully cleared without confirming whether contamination was present. Clearance of Jojuq Marjanli continued into 2018 to support infrastructure building works.[32]

Mine clearance in 2017[33]

* includes the items destroyed only during mine clearance and not technical survey.

In addition, AMAMA tasks its Special Mobile Emergency Response Team 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.[34] ANAMA, IEPF, and RA responded to a total of 157 requests in 2017, during which they found 7,528 explosive items, seven of which were antipersonnel mines, in 31 regions of Azerbaijan.[35]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

No cluster munition survey or clearance took place in territory under government control in 2017.[36]

Battle area clearance in 2017

In January 2017, ANAMA began the third phase of the three-phase Azerbaijan National Action Plan (NAP)/NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) Trust fund project, at the former Soviet artillery shooting range in Jeyranchel, in the Agstafa region, on the border with Georgia. The third phase was projected to finish in June 2018 and would result in release of nearly 22km² of land contaminated with UXO.[37]

In addition, ANAMA continued to implement the Ganja UXO clearance project.[38] As of August 2017, the majority of ANAMA’s battle area clearance teams were deployed to clear the results of the explosion at the Khizi ammunition storage area.[39] 

During ERW clearance in 2017, ANAMA cleared 62 sites, totaling 33.3km², during which it destroyed 25,102 items of ERW as well as five antipersonnel mines and 60 antivehicle mines; IEPF cleared 15 sites, totaling 27.4km², during which it destroyed 2,616 items of ERW; and RA cleared 20 sites, totaling 24.5km², during which it destroyed 7,332 items of ERW as well as two antipersonnel mines and four antivehicle mines.[40]

Progress in 2018

In 2018, most of ANAMA’s clearance assets were being deployed for emergency clearance after an explosion at the Khizi ammunition storage area, continuing clearance of the former shooting range in Jeyranchel in Agstafa as well as continuing clearance of the JojuqMarjanli village to support infrastructure construction.[41]

Progress towards completion of mine clearance

Over the last five years, 19.44km² of mined area
has been cleared in Azerbaijan. Mine clearance output increased dramatically in 2017 (see table below).

Mine clearance in 2013–2017[42]

* Of which 3.7km²was cleared but was found not to contain mines.

Currently, 90% of mine action in Azerbaijan is state funded.[43] ANAMA’s long-term strategy is to be ready to start clearance of the occupied territories as and when this is possible.[44]

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.