Meghvadzor, Kashatagh Region, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006

One of the main purposes of my return visit to Lachin was to look at the work of the HALO Trust in the region. The international mine clearance charity have been working in what is now known as the Kashatagh region for over two years, and there’s a reason for that. During the war with Azerbaijan over the disputed mainly-Armenian inhabited region of Nagorno Karabakh, the area around Lachin saw some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict.

There are landmines all over the place, and not least close to former Azerbaijani villages now being inhabited by Armenians. I have to admit that since writing a few articles on HALO Trust I’ve learned to respect the organization a great deal. Politics is not a concern for this organization, but preventing needless deaths and injuries from landmines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) is.

According to residents in Lachin (Berdzor), there have definitely been deaths and injuries caused by landmines in Kashatagh. Although I have yet to confirm these two cases with HALO Trust, one person apparently died last year in the village of Herik and a child lost a hand in another. HALO Trust also told me of other accidents.

Anyway, I saw two large minefields some 35 km south of Lachin, and in Meghvadzor a Manual Mine Clearance Technical Survey Team check out and mark a minefield of an estimated 200 PMN-2 anti-personnel mines within walking distance of the village. Incidently, the ground is black because of the recent fires that Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of deliberately starting.

However, I have to say that all signs indicate that these fields which do represent valuable grazing land for local villagers burnt as a result of the unprecedented heat wave that has afflicted Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, and I assume, Azerbaijan. More to write and more photos to post of HALO Trust in the field, but for now, older material can be found under the landmines category on this blog.

Special thanks to Uri Sharamanyan, HALO Trust’s Operations Officer in Nagorno Karabakh. Incidently, the HALO Trust has a web site here.

Meghvadzor, Kashatagh Region, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006