Policeman blows himself up on a mine in Azerbaijan

Ilham Salmanov, a police sergeant, was hospitalized after a mine explosion in the village of Ashagy Seidakhmedli, Fizuli District. His state of health is assessed as satisfactory.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 19, the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) reported that in the Djebrail District (the Armenian name for Djebrail is Mekhakavan), Ali Shukyurov, a sapper, was wounded by an anti-personnel mine explosion.

On June 26, the same happened with Ilham Salmanov, a police sergeant, born in 1989, in the village of Ashagy Seidakhmedli, Fizuli District, the "media.az" reports. The victim was hospitalized with traumas, the APA News Agency reports.

Zakir Gasanov, the head of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD), said in an interview with the "Azertadj" that about 21,000 hectares of land have been cleared of ammunition since the start of the demining activities.

However, people are regularly killed and wounded by mine explosions that occur in the territories that came under Azerbaijan's control after the 2020 Karabakh war. Thus, on May 12, Rashad Bakhtiyarov, a resident of the Agdam District, was wounded by a mine explosion while grazing sheep. After the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh war a total of 219 people have got blown up by mines, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has informed.