ANS TV, Baku, in Azeri
28 Jul 04

Local official says Armenians use river to float booby-traps to
Azerbaijan

[Presenter Natavan Babayeva] Armenians even use rivers on the
occupied territories for provocative ends.

[Correspondent, over video of sappers and anti-mine equipment in
rural area] The Armenians float mines and explosive ammunition on
Tartar river to the territory of Tartar District [northwestern
Azerbaijan], Ilqar Musayev, chief of the Tartar district civil
defence headquarters, has said. We should note that the Armenian
positions are located higher than the positions of our army. This
eases the enemy’s provocations on our territory.

[A man captioned as Ilqar Musayev, chief of the Tartar district civil
defence headquarters] [beginning of sentence missing] is being
floated on the river, enters fields through canals and irrigation
ditches. You know, some of them are bombs, but look like other
things, for example toys and other deceptive objects.

[Correspondent] According to Musayev, about 200 people in Tartar have
been blown up on mines since 1994 following the end of military
operations. As against previous years, the number of victims of mines
and unexploded ammunition grew in 2004. That is why the district
executive authorities have appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers and
the Azerbaijani National Agency for Mine Action [ANAMA] to clear the
dangerous areas of mines. ANAMA representatives, who have been
working in Tartar since 29 June, will clear mines on 975,000 square
metres where major military operations were held during the first
Karabakh war.

[A man captioned as Ramil Azizov, ANAMA’s operational manager for
Tartar District] This mined area comprises 116, 451 square metres. It
is planned to end the work here in about 40 days. After finishing
work in this area we will start work on [indistinct] mined area where
a reconnaissance group is currently operating.

[Correspondent] ANAMA has 43 employees involved in this work. In
addition, sniffer dogs are being used to discover mines. An equipped
brigade of doctors is also operating to intervene in possible
unfortunate incident on time. Generally speaking, 29m square metres
around 23 villages in Tartar have been mined. The main part of this
areas is suitable for sowing.

Rufat Hasanov, Sahin Rzayev, Zaur Naibov, ANS.