BY DAILY SABAH WITH AA
The Azerbaijani army discovered a minefield in the Lachin region that was laid by Armenian elements, the country’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
The army’s engineering units detected over 900 anti-personnel mines while conducting terrain reconnaissance in the “northwestern direction of the Saribaba high ground,” a ministry statement said.
It said that the mines, laid by “illegal Armenian armed detachments,” were “neutralized” by a specialized team.
“All the mines detected in this direction were produced in Armenia after the Patriotic War, in 2021,” the statement said.
After an Azerbaijani soldier was killed as a result of the provocation carried out by the illegal Armenian forces in Karabakh on Aug. 3, the Azerbaijani army carried out a retaliatory measure called “revenge.”
“As a result of the ‘revenge’ retaliatory measure carried out by Azerbaijani Army Units, the Girkhgiz peak, as well as Saribaba along the Karabakh ridge of the Lesser Caucasus and a number of other important heights, were taken under control,” the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Aug. 4.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, previously referred to as Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
In January 2021, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It also included the establishment of a trilateral working group in Karabakh.
After the conflict ended, Azerbaijan launched a massive reconstruction initiative in the liberated Karabakh region.