Israel Hayom: Armenia continues to plant landmines in Karabakh

Despite the international community's dedication to eradicating landmines, this does not stop Armenia from continuing to plant landmines in the region, even though they are supposed to be negotiating a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, Rachel Avraham, CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and an Israel-based journalist, said in her article in Israel Hayom, according to Report.

"Landmines are so deadly, as they can kill and maim any person, including a child who just wanted to play soccer, just for walking by. This is why planting landmines, especially if they are not clearly marked, is a gross violation of human rights," she wrote.

The article also cites Roy Nahari, the CEO of Open Minded Solutions Ltd., an Israeli anti-mine company, who noted that the natural environment in Karabakh makes the issue worse, even if the Armenians provided all of the landmine maps: "Landmines in mountain areas are at a very big risk of going with the stream or melted snow or water washed away to the streams and rivers because of the power of the water in those areas. This makes the problem bigger and very dangerous because you do not know where the mines went. The area where the mines are spread is huge. This makes it hard to determine where they are and in what distance they can go."

DSC Kingsley Chike Ahukanna, the head of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Section CBRNE Unit at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp, who also partook in the Second International Conference on Mine Action that was held recently in Azerbaijan, stressed: "Landmines continue to pose a lethal threat to peace, security, and development everywhere in the world and Azerbaijan is not the exemption. 147,988 hectares of land in Azerbaijan are still classified as highly contaminated, while 675,570 hectares are considered medium and low threat areas." He believes that the International Conference on Mine Action helped to create a community of committed professionals, dedicated to eradicating landmines worldwide.