Contamination and Impact

Mines

Nagorno-Karabakh is affected by mines as a result of the 1988–1994 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2011, HALO Trust completed its polygon surveys of mined areas. As of 31 December 2011, the size of the contaminated areas had been revised to a total of 6.96km² of mined area, a reduction of almost 3km² since January 2010.[1]

Cluster munition remnants

HALO has reported that Nagorno-Karabakh has a significant problem of cluster munition remnants, particularly in the Askeran and Martakert regions. Large quantities of cluster munitions were dropped from the air during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict over a six-year period. Cluster munition strike sites run through villages and contaminate gardens and prime agricultural land. HALO has already cleared the majority of cluster munition tasks around Stepanakert and Shushi.[2]

 HALO initially conducted emergency surface clearance of cluster munition remnants. In 2008, HALO concluded there was also a significant sub-surface threat and they began to re-survey cluster munition strike sites. Sub-surface clearance has consistently resulted in clearing more area than originally estimated to be contaminated, and new surveys of previously unknown cluster munition strikes have added to the total suspected hazardous area (SHA).[3]

 In 2011, HALO cleared 8.5km² of area contaminated by cluster munitions, finding approximately 500 unexploded submunitions. As of December 2011, the estimated remaining area in need of battle area clearance (BAC) was 70.9km², impacting 131 communities.[4]

Other explosive remnants of war

There is also a problem with other explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO), resulting from the 1988–1994 conflict. Askeran and Martakert are considered to be more contaminated by ERW than other regions. In Askeran, HALO has identified 73 SHAs covering 25.5km² and in Martakert, 66 SHAs covering 36.4km².[5]

Mine Action Program

HALO has been the backbone of the mine action program in Nagorno-Karabakh for more than 10 years. A Mine Action Coordination Committee is primarily responsible for liaising between the de facto government and HALO, but meets only when needed. In 2000, HALO established the Nagorno-Karabakh Mine Action Center, which consolidates all mine action-related information. The Mine Action Center responds to requests from the de facto government ministries, all other NGOs, and local communities.[6]

Although Nagorno-Karabakh is heavily impacted by cluster munition remnants and HALO has made steady progress each year, the organization reported that donor funding would decrease in 2011. In February 2011, HALO released 46 personnel, all but one of whom was a deminer. This was a result of the decision by the United Kingdom (UK) to discontinue mine action funding to Nagorno-Karabakh, which followed a review of its foreign aid program.[7]

Land Release

In 2006–2010, HALO consistently cleared 5km² to 6km² of mined areas annually. In 2011, however, the UK discontinued its funding to the program and HALO lost 37% of its capacity; consequently, it cleared less mined area than in previous years. Also, HALO cleared less area in 2011 than it had the previous year because it focused on clearing areas mined with antipersonnel mines, which is a more time-consuming operation than those in areas containing only antivehicle mines, which had been the focus of clearance operations in 2010.[8]

HALO also returns to antivehicle minefields that had previously been cleared with a metal detector to “prod” (check) for minimum-metal plastic antivehicle mines. When there is a suspicion that plastic antivehicle mines have been used based on fragments of antivehicle mines found, specific information that plastic mines were used, or an examination of the accident crater presents evidence, HALO prods in a one-meter-wide lane. The antivehicle minefields in Nagorno Karabakh are generally large and are otherwise cleared using large loop detectors. As these areas had previously been cleared with metal detectors, the area prodded was not added to HALO’s clearance statistics to avoid dual reporting.[9]

Five-year summary of land release[10]

Survey in 2011

HALO completed its resurvey of all known minefields in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2011. The survey identified 3.65km² of antipersonnel minefields and 3.31km² of antivehicle minefields, for a total of 6.96km² of contaminated area.[11]

Mine clearance in 2011

In 2011, HALO cleared 1.53km², finding and destroying 150 antipersonnel mines and 45 antivehicle mines.[12]

Mine clearance in 2011

Quality management

Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) are integrated into HALO’s clearance operations.[13] There is no external quality management of clearance.

Risk Education

Community liaison is an integral part of the daily work of HALO’s survey and clearance teams.[14] HALO personnel meet with the residents and local authorities in each community prior to all stages of clearance. After completion of clearance in an area, landowners and the local authorities are present for the handover of the cleared land. In addition, HALO has a mobile Mine Risk Education Team that visits impacted communities on a daily basis.[15]

HALO has a full-time risk education (RE) team that focuses on schools. During the school holidays, RE targets adults.[16]