On Saturday 28 November four Azerbaijani civilians were victims of what the Azerbaijani’s authorities considered a “new type of provocation” from Armenia: the explosion of a landmine placed, supposedly, by retreating Armenian Armed Forces.
The incident took place while the victims were driving towards the village of Ashagi Seyidahmedli of Fuzuli province, which was liberated from Armenian occupation last October, in the midst of the second war over Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan started in late September and then concluded with the signing of a ceasefire agreement on the 9th of November. The Moscow-brokered peace deal provides for the Azerbaijanis’ resettlement of the territories which had been previously occupied by Armenians during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war (1992-1994).
The territory integrity of Azerbaijan has been assured, but, once again, civilians’ life is at stake: the land mine explosion is one example of the dangers Azerbaijanis face in trying to resettle the territories. Moreover, Olesya Vartanyan, Senior analyst of the International Crisis Group for the South Caucasus region, underlines that “the new status quo remains unclear”; she affirms that “the Moscow-brokered agreement is very precise when it comes to the territories’ handover, but is ambiguous on how the life of the local population, both Armenian and Azerbaijani, will be organised”.
In order to avoid further incidents, the authorities invited the public not to enter the liberated areas without a special permit. In the meantime, the Azerbaijan military sappers, backed by Turkish sappers, are dealing with the clearing of mines in the recently conquered territories.
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Author: Laura De Pascale
