An employee of the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA), 31-year-old Mughan Metili, was killed in a mine explosion in the village of Ashagi Abdurrahmanli in the Fizuli district on Tuesday. The pro-government media outlet APA said Metili had stepped on an anti-tank mine during demining operations.
Metili’s relative told the pro-government media outlet Qafqazinfo that he had been working as a de-miner for two years, and was a music teacher by profession. He played the accordion.
According to his relative, Metili was a father of two children.
Casualties from mine explosions have sharply increased since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020 and the subsequent Azerbaijani control of territory that had been heavily mined during the conflict in the 1990s.
According to ANAMA, ‘from November 2020 to 4 April, 72 people have been killed and 349 injured as a result of 259 landmine explosions’.
The government agency shares data about the minesweeping operations on a monthly basis, writing that 36 hectares were cleared of mines in March. The exact location of the 36 hectares was not identified, but the government said across the territory, 4,922 pieces of unexploded ordnance, 236 anti-personnel mines, and 267 pieces of anti-tank mines were cleared.
As mine-clearing operations continue, authorities have also announced higher compensation for victims of mine explosions and their families, with President Ilham Aliyev in March increasing their monthly pensions to ₼700 ($410) from ₼600 ($352) The decision will be applied to the all families mine victims.
On Tuesday, after the news of Metili’s, the government signed a decison outlining training fees for those working on demining.
