Contamination and Impact

Mines

Azerbaijan is contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), primarily as a result of armed conflict with Armenia in 1988–1994. General surveys, a Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), re-surveys and clearance operations since 1998 reduced the area of contamination at the end of 2011 to approximately 125km².[1] With additional land release in January–June 2012 Azerbaijan further reduced the estimated contaminated area on territory it controls to approximately 112km².[2]

The precise extent of the mine/ERW problem in areas of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia is unknown. In addition to Nagorno-Karabakh (see the Nagorno-Karabakh profile) which was occupied by Armenian forces during the conflict between the two countries, the districts of Gubadly, Jabrayil, Kelbajar, Lachin, and Zangilan, as well as parts of Aghdam, Fizuli, and Terter, are under the control of Armenian forces. These areas are believed to have extensive mine/ERW contamination estimated by the Azerbaijan National Agency of Mine Action (ANAMA) to potentially cover hundreds of square kilometers and contain tens of thousands of landmines.[3]

Cluster munition remnants

In 2007, the Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines (AzCBL) conducted survey of cluster munition contamination in the non-occupied border regions of Azerbaijan. It concluded that cluster munitions had, among other things, been used in Aghdam and Fizuli regions.[4] Significant contamination from cluster munition remnants has been identified in Nagorno-Karabakh (see the Nagorno-Karabakh profile).[5]

In 2006 and 2007, cluster munition remnants were found in and around warehouses at a former Soviet ammunition storage area (ASA) located at Saloglu in Agstafa district, where clearance was completed in July 2011. None has since been encountered (see Clearance of cluster-munition-contaminated area in 2011 section below).

Other explosive remnants of war

There are also other areas confirmed or suspected to contain ERW, including both unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO). Despite ongoing clearance efforts, significant contamination remains in and around warehouses at the former Soviet ASA in Guzdek village in Garadakh district, close to the capital, Baku. In 1991, 20 warehouses were blown up in Guzdek village resulting in tens of thousands of items of ordnance being scattered over a large area.[6]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

ANAMA was established in 1998 as the national entity mandated to oversee all mine action activities in Azerbaijan under the supervision of the State Commission for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.[7] ANAMA has its headquarters in Baku, a regional office in Fizuli, a Regional Mine Action Resource and Training Center in Goygol, and three operational centers in Agjabedi, Agstafa, and Terter. At the end of 2011, ANAMA had 602 employees (compared to 404 in 2010) of which 464 were operational staff (253 in 2010) as well as 36 mine detection dogs (MDDs) and six demining machines. Its operating partners in conducting clearance operations are two national NGOs: Dayag (Relief Azerbaijan) and the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF). The two NGOS have 76 deminers between them, the same number as in 2010.[8]

Two strategic plans are being pursued by the mine action program. The first is a medium-term plan to release all of the suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) identified in accessible areas by the end of 2013.[9] It appears that the program will not meet this deadline, based on current trends. As noted above, as of the end of 2011, 125km² remained to be released from this total. In 2011, ANAMA released 26.31km².[10] In 2012, ANAMA planned to release 28km² through the use of its MDD and manual demining teams and also planned to conduct battle area clearance (BAC) and area cancelation through survey.[11] By the end of June it had released 12.47km² of contaminated land, including 7.1km² by means other than clearance.[12]

The second strategic plan is a longer term strategy by which ANAMA plans to increase its operational and management capacity to enable it to address the mine and ERW threat from the occupied areas once they are returned to Azerbaijan.[13] 

ANAMA and the national mine action program are strongly supported by the government of Azerbaijan. The government has assured financial sustainability through the inclusion of ANAMA since 2006 in the National Socio-economic Development Plan and the annual state budget. State support has increased from 10% to 90%, putting Azerbaijan in a small group of mine affected countries that are largely funded through the national budget.[14]

UNDP supports ANAMA in national mine action capacity building and planning that includes financial support from UNDP and the United Kingdom (UK).[15]

International support for mine action

In a new strategic direction, ANAMA has been offering training to other mine action programs in the region. Following a June 2009 UNDP feasibility study which concluded that an international mine action center in Azerbaijan could benefit programs from Croatia to Tajikistan, in 2010 ANAMA opened a training center in Goygol region, 360km west of Baku. Among other training and support activities, mine action personnel from Georgia, Tajikistan, and Turkey were trained in demining techniques, information management, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), and quality assurance (QA).[16]

In 2011, ANAMA hosted representatives from the Ministries of Planning and Defence in Vietnam on ANAMA’s structures, surface and subsurface clearance operations and capacities including its international training and support programs at the Goygol regional center.[17] Also in 2011, ANAMA continued its support for risk education (RE) development in Afghanistan with funding from the government of Azerbaijan. In follow-up to two missions to Afghanistan in 2009 where ANAMA RE personnel conducted three trainings for 150 teachers in Kabul and Parvan provinces, ANAMA produced 15,000 textbooks and teaching manuals in preparation for the teaching of RE in Afghan schools.[18]

Land Release

In 2011, Azerbaijan released almost 29.5km² of suspected land, of which some 13.5km² was through mine clearance and BAC and the remaining 16km² was canceled or released by survey.[19] Since 2008, Azerbaijan has canceled or released a total of more than 125km², an annual average of some 30km². In January–June 2012, Azerbaijan released a further 12.47km² of contaminated area through mine clearance and BAC and survey.[20]

Five-year summary of land release[21]

Survey in 2011

ANAMA conducts surveys with the Resurvey Team from its Training, Survey and Quality Assurance Division (TSQAD) and with technical survey teams from ANAMA, IEPF and Dayag.[22] ANAMA non-technical survey (NTS) teams in 2011 canceled 14.52km² of SHAs while technical surveys from ANAMA, Dayag, and IEPF released a further 1.46km².

Since 2000, ANAMA has released 111.52km² of contaminated area through technical and non-technical survey.[23]

Survey in 2011[24]

Mine clearance in 2011

In 2011, Azerbaijan has reported clearing 3.29km² of mined areas, with the destruction of 26 antipersonnel mines, 56 antivehicle mines, and 366 items of UXO.[25] However, this clearance has not been disaggregated by operator. In 2010, 1.26km² of mined area was cleared. The increase from 2011 is said to be largely the result of more intensive use of mechanical demining assets.[26]

As of the end of 2011, mine clearance capacity consisted of three manual demining teams that each had 38 personnel, six demining machines, and 36 MDDs and their handlers, the same as in both 2010 and 2009.[27]

In April 2012, ANAMA began clearing mines and UXO at a former Soviet Army military testing and training area in Jeyranchel along the Azerbaijani-Georgian border. The Soviet Army used the area in 1955–1991. An ANAMA survey in 2009 found large quantities of unexploded tank projectiles and artillery shells, air-dropped bombs, and other types of UXO on the surface, covering 19km². The ANAMA-NATO/NAMSA Partnership for Peace Trust Fund Project “Jeyranchel Clearance Project” is funded through NAMSA with support from the UK and the United States. The government of Azerbaijan is funding 50% of the €3 million project, which is scheduled to take 28 months to complete. In the first month of operations ANAMA cleared 400,403m² and found 70 landmines and items of UXO.[28]

Since 1998 and through June 2012, Azerbaijan found and destroyed a total of 303 antipersonnel mines and 473 antivehicle mines, as well as 672,111 items of UXO.[29] This is a relatively small number of mines given the extent of clearance.

Clearance of cluster-munition-contaminated area in 2011

No cluster munition remnant was cleared in 2010 or 2011. In 2006, at Saloglu, 16 “9M 27 K” cluster munition rockets were destroyed (each rocket has 24 submunitions). In 2007, 181 “Z-O-13” cluster munition artillery shells were destroyed (each item has eight submunitions). In 2008–2011, no cluster munition remnants were found at Saloglu.[30]

Battle area clearance and explosive ordnance disposal in 2011

In 2011, ANAMA conducted a total of 10.18km² of BAC. They did not report the quantity of UXO found.[31]

On 1 April 2009, the third phase of the “Clearance of UXO in Saloglu project” started. It ended in July 2011. The project was conducted with the NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund and the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency. Over the course of the project, 5.68km² of clearance was conducted and more than 640,000 items of UXO destroyed. Within this cleared area, 95% of the UXO found in Azerbaijan have been found in Saloglu.[32]

On 10 June 2009, ANAMA began clearance of abandoned small arms ammunition in Guzdek village.[33] Through 31 December 2011, ANAMA’s Special Operations Team (created specifically for the Guzdek clearance project) had cleared 1,511,919m² of land, including 81,061m² in 2011, destroying in the process 5,210 landmines and items of abandoned ordnance.[34]

In August 2011, at the request of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the Special Operations Team of ANAMA began clearing a battle area of approximately 2.7km² in an area of mud volcanoes[35] in the Absheron region near Baku.[36]

Roving clearance/EOD call-outs in 2011

ANAMA’s Emergency Response Operations based in Aghdam, Agstafa, Fizuli, Guzdek and Terter are tasked with EOD after receiving requests from state, non-state, and regional authorities. In 2011, EOD teams removed mines in Aghdam, Barda, and Terter regions when mines surfaced after floods in the regions. ANAMA emergency teams also responded to requests from the local authorities and police to remove ordnance in 14 regions as well as Baku and nearby Sumgait. In Baku, the EOD teams found two antivehicle mines and two items of UXO, which were subsequently destroyed at ANAMA’s demolition site at Guzdek.[37]

Quality management

Internal quality assurance (QA) is carried out by the team engaged in clearance while external QA is the sole responsibility of ANAMA’s TSQAD. Quality control (QC) is conducted immediately after clearance is completed, through sampling in accordance with International Mine Action Standards.[38]

A total of 231 monitoring missions were conducted during 2011, compared to 189 in 2009 and 212 in 2010.[39] Based on the Clearance Completion Reports, external QC checks were conducted by the TSQAD on 51 sites (1.6km²) of which 31 were minefields (0.3km²) and 20 battle areas (1.3km²). Most of the QC checks were implemented by the Sampling Team consisting of 10 deminers and two MDD groups.[40]

Safety of demining personnel

No injuries occurred to demining personnel in 2011.[41]

Risk Education

In 2011, mine/ERW RE activities were implemented by ANAMA’s RE department officers, ANAMA’s clearance groups (when conditions do not allow them to engage in demining), and ANAMA’s two NGO implementing partners: Dayag and IEPF. Since 2004, when a memorandum of understanding was signed between ANAMA and the Ministry of Education on integrating RE into the school curriculum, each year 52,000 secondary school students in 1,200 schools have attended RE classes.[42]

A total of 134 mine RE volunteer committees have been formed in nine districts to facilitate discussion and awareness on the dangers of mines and ERW. From these informal meetings the communities have reported 16 landmines and 454 ERW for demolition by ANAMA.[43]