Two azeri media operators killed by a mine

Two azeri media operators killed by a mine

Rome [ENA] After the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenia refused to release minefield maps. On 4 June, Azerbaijani television operator Siraj Abishov, born in 1989, and the employee of the Azertac State News Agency, Maharram Ibrahimov (Aliyoglu), born in 1982, were killed by a mine while serving in the region. by Kalbajar. The President of Italy-Azerbaijian Association Bahar Youzifzade released the following statement:

Italy-Azerbaijian Association

”We deeply regret the death of civilians as a result of Armenia's refusal to provide maps of hundreds of thousands of mines planted in the Azerbaijani territories during three decades of occupation. • We assess the failure of the Armenian side to provide maps and schemes of mines buried in our liberated territories for many years as a continuation of the provocative acts committed by the Republic of Armenia against the Azerbaijani people. • Mines planted by Armenia in Azerbaijan’s formerly-occupied territories continue to kill civilians.

President of Association Italy - Azerbaijian

• On June 4, 2021 at around 11 a.m. a bus carrying employees of TV channels and news agencies seconded to Kalbajar district liberated from occupation in connection with the performance of their service duties was struck by anti-tank mine while moving in the direction of Susuzlug village of the district. As a result, 2 media representatives and 1 public servant were killed, and 4 others were hospitalized with various injuries. • Azertag’s correspondent Maharram Ibrahimov and AZTV channel’s cameraman Siraj Abishov lost their lives as the crew vehicle exploded on an anti-tank mine explosion. • Arif Aliyev, a deputy representative of the Kalbajar executive authorities in the administrative-territorial district of Susuzlug village

was also among the killed in the blast. • The mining of Azerbaijani territories by the Armenian Armed Forces as a gross violation of the norms and principles of international law, including the requirements of the Geneva Convention of 1949, is the continuation of criminal actions against the Azerbaijani citizens. • Over 120 Azerbaijanis have been killed and injured during mine explosions in the country’s newly-liberated territories since November 2020.

• Azerbaijan has made numerous appeals to international organizations and lodged an intergovernmental complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over Armenia's refusal to provide maps of mines in the formerly-occupied territories. • We call on all international organizations to demand from Armenia to put an end to the policy of targeting civilians by hiding mine maps”.