The increased explosions in Azerbaijan have highlighted the difficulties of demining.

The return of people to the territories over which Azerbaijan has regained control, and the associated activation of agricultural work, have become one of the reasons for the increase in the number of mine incidents.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on August 12, in the village of Gyzylgaya in the Khojavend district of Azerbaijan, three local residents were blown up by a mine. On August 8, a mine exploded in the Khojavend district during work, and the tractor driver was not injured.

August turned out to be the month with the highest number of mine incidents in Azerbaijan in 2026, noted in a conversation with a correspondent of the “Caucasian Knot” expert of the Turan analytical service, Tapdyg Farhadoglu. According to him, in less than a month, there were 5 mine explosions, with only one case resulting in no injuries, while in the others, a total of 6 civilians were injured. This contrasts with the statistics of previous periods, when there were 1-2 incidents per month. In April, there were three explosions, while June passed without incidents,” the expert noted.

“Of course, based solely on the statistics of August, one cannot yet assert a stable trend towards an increase in the number of mine incidents. However, as the pace of recovery work accelerates, the geography of these works expands, and the number of returning residents increases, the likelihood of new incidents rises,” the expert noted.

Efforts to return the population to the territories controlled by Azerbaijan are scaling up, and this requires accelerating demining work. However, according to Farhadoglu, there is a shortage of human resources for such work.

“Azerbaijan is effectively conducting demining work independently. Foreign assistance consists of providing machines, equipment, and advisory support. For physical demining work, in addition to professional sappers from the National Agency for Mine Action ANAMA and military personnel, employees of specialized private companies and NGOs are also involved. However, the latter have, of course, fewer competencies than professionals. Notably, in the August incidents, all three injured sappers were employees of a private company and an NGO. On the other hand, sappers often encounter so-called booby traps. This is a double mine: the upper one serves as bait, and when the sapper discovers it and tries to extract it, the lower one explodes,” Farhadoglu continued.

Another likely reason for the increase in mine incidents is agricultural work. “Currently, livestock farming is expanding in the liberated territories. When grazing cattle, there is a possibility of entering mined areas,” Farhadoglu noted.

He also pointed to mine incidents during construction work, when machinery operators may enter dangerous areas. “Moreover, mine incidents can also be caused by the negligence of the population. The number of returnees is growing. Some may neglect safety measures and warning signs. The police patrol areas along dangerous zones. But you can't assign a guard to every person. Danger can lurk in the most unexpected places. Recently, at the Garagaji cemetery in the Agdam district, an unexploded ordnance was discovered while digging a grave. Fortunately, there was no incident; sappers arrived, removed, and neutralized the ordnance,” Farhadoglu noted.

Member of the Azerbaijani National Public Committee for Eurointegration Toghrul Juvarly noted in a conversation with a correspondent of the “Caucasian Knot” that the Azerbaijani government prioritizes demining issues. “However, the ongoing incidents show that the quantitative increase in demining does not yet completely eliminate the risk to the population,” the expert said.

According to him, the scale of contamination is enormous, and the exact boundaries of many dangerous areas remain unknown. Moreover, Juvarly believes that the combination of mines, unexploded ordnance, and complex terrain makes clearance slow and expensive.

“In some places, it is not possible to use machinery, and manual demining has to be conducted, which slows down the pace of work and their effectiveness. There is a shortage of human resources because Azerbaijan has to carry out this task alone; foreign support consists of providing equipment and machinery and is very limited. On the other hand, there are also problems with the quality of area surveys, determining the priority of the most dangerous areas, and the speed of their transfer for the safe return of the population. In any case, the demining process after a conflict that lasted for decades over a vast territory filled with mines requires a long time. The Bosnian conflict ended more than 30 years ago, but the demining process there is still not complete, even though more international efforts have been directed there,” Juvarly said.

It should be noted that from 2020 to 2025, about 249 thousand hectares in Azerbaijan were cleared of mines, the country's Prime Minister reported while presenting a government report in parliament on March 13. At the same time, 237 thousand mines and other explosive items were discovered. According to him, for 2026, the government plans to clear another 65 thousand hectares.

Recall that residents of the Karabakh villages of Khydyrly, Saryjaly, and Khorovlu previously told a correspondent of the “Caucasian Knot” that they were thoroughly informed about the ongoing mine threat. Even before resettlement, they underwent mandatory mine safety training, and after moving, they met with representatives of the mine action agency, police, and local authorities.

The villagers noted that they pay special attention to children and constantly remind them of the prohibition to enter dangerous areas. However, many uncleared territories remain near the former front line and destroyed settlements. According to residents, some explosions occur after people ignore warnings, enter closed zones, or cross barriers.

The head of one of the NGOs involved in educational projects in Karabakh confirmed to the “Caucasian Knot” that hundreds of kilometers of territory along the former line of contact remain potentially dangerous. The head of the NGO “Military Lawyers,” Telman Abilov, noted that complete demining of Karabakh could take many years.