Armenia uses Lachin corridor for military purposes - MFA

Baku /25.10.22/Turan: On October 25, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the world community to put pressure on Armenia to fulfill its international obligations.

In violation of the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, Armenia continues "illegal military activities on the territory of Azerbaijan," the statement says.

Armenia not only does not withdraw its military forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, but also continues to place a large number of mines on its territory. This leads to an increase in the number of people being blown up by mines and not only along the former line of contact.

In total, over the past 30 years, the number of victims in Azerbaijan from the explosion of mines amounted to 3,345 people, including 38 women and 357 children.

At the same time, after November 10, 2020, 266 Azerbaijani citizens were blown up by mines, of which 45 were killed, including three journalists.

Since August of this year, after the withdrawal of the Armenian population from the Lachin region, more than 1,400 E-001M anti-personnel mines produced in Armenia in 2021 have been found there.

Besides, booby traps were installed on the doorsteps of houses and courtyards in the villages of Zabukh and Sus.

The delivery of anti-personnel mines from Armenia to Azerbaijan after the end of the war once again demonstrates that the Armenians used the Lachin corridor for illegal military activities. Although, according to the 6th paragraph of the trilateral statement, the Lachin corridor should be used for the passage of citizens, vehicles and the transportation of civilian goods.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also draws attention to the fact that the reason for the large-scale sabotage of the units of the Armenian armed forces units on September 12-13 was the attempts of Armenians to mine supply routes and areas between the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces.

The reliability of the maps of minefields provided by Armenia is only 25%. At the same time, 55% of the last cases of mine detonation occurred in territories outside these maps.

"This once again proves that the Armenian side purposefully continues military threats against Azerbaijan, which is a war crime and a serious violation of international humanitarian law," the statement said.

The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly called for efforts to eliminate these threats and provide assistance to mine clearance operations.

Official Baku calls on the international community to exert pressure on Armenia in order to fulfill the conditions of the trilateral declaration and obligations under international law, to stop steps against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, to withdraw all armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, to stop mining activities on them, to provide accurate mine maps.

"These steps would be a contribution to ensuring peace and tranquility in the region," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement concludes. -06B-