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II. Aghdam

he province of Aghdam is the centre of the Aghdam region, located 362
Tkm from Baku, 3 km from the banks of the Qarqarçay river, in the south-
west of the Karabakh plain. The region has borders with Aghjabadi, Tartar,
Barda, Kalbajar, Askeran, Martuni, and Fuzuli regions, and its area is 1,150
km2. Aghdam region was established in 1930 and consists of 1 city as well
as 2 settlements and 123 villages. Before the occupation, agriculture and
industry were well-developed in Aghdam; in general, people were dealing
with cotton farming, fruit and vegetable production, and animal husbandry.
Aghdam was one of the places under the heaviest attack in the First Karab-
akh War. The attacks that started on 11 June 1993 ended with the occupation
of Aghdam on 23 July. As a result of the military attack that lasted until 12
May 1994, they occupied 77.4% of the territory of the Aghdam region. Due to
the occupation mentioned above, thousands of people from Aghdam had to
leave their homes and migrate. 10

Aghdam was liberated from the occupation of Armenia on 20 November
2020, and our delegation departed from Shusha to Aghdam on 17 Septem-
ber 2021 to conduct on-site examinations. Before coming to the city centre of
Aghdam, the greenery, trees, and large agricultural lands on the route attract-
ed attention. At the moment of entering the occupied region, the landscape
changed sharply, and any greenery or trees were not encountered. On the
other hand, houses with only some stones left along the route drew atten-
tion. The on-site examination visit in the province of Aghdam started with
the observation of the minefields and mine clearance efforts. Our delegation
was welcomed by ANAMA’s staff working in the field and carrying out the
mine clearance.

10 https://www.virtualkarabakh.az/en/post-item/27/97/aghdam.html

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