Three employees of Halo Trust killed by detonation of anti-tank landmine in Nagorno-Karabakh
29.03.2018,
15:31
Three local employees of the UK-based demining group, the HALO Trust, were killed and two injured by "the accidental detonation of an anti-tank landmine" in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) earlier Thursday, the NKR foreign ministry said.
YEREVAN, March 29, /ARKA/. Three local employees of the UK-based demining group, the HALO Trust, were killed and two injured by "the accidental detonation of an anti-tank landmine" in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) earlier Thursday, the NKR foreign ministry said. It said the accident occurred near the village of Kazanchi in Martakert region.
"The staff members were in a vehicle conducting survey duties at the time," the ministry said. in a statement. "The injured have been taken to hospital and HALO is contacting the families of those killed."
UK-based HALO Trust is the world's largest humanitarian mine clearance organization. It has been clearing landmines and cluster munitions in Nagorno- Karabakh since 2000 and has already cleared 90 percent of the territory's minefields.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. -0-
"The staff members were in a vehicle conducting survey duties at the time," the ministry said. in a statement. "The injured have been taken to hospital and HALO is contacting the families of those killed."
UK-based HALO Trust is the world's largest humanitarian mine clearance organization. It has been clearing landmines and cluster munitions in Nagorno- Karabakh since 2000 and has already cleared 90 percent of the territory's minefields.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. -0-
