Armenian mayor injured in landmine blast in Azerbaijan’s Kalbacar

The mayor of the Armenian town of Armavir was injured and his driver killed in a landmine explosion in the occupied Azerbaijani district of Kalbacar, News.am reported.

A car carrying Ruben Khlgatyan, the mayor, and three others hit a landmine on July 22 in the north of Kalbacar, which was captured from Azerbaijan by Armenian forces in 1993.

The driver, Armen, died on the spot. Khlgatyan and two others were flown to a hospital in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. 

It was not immediately clear who placed the landmine. 

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said last week all roads and mountain paths connecting Kalbacar with the rest of Azerbaijan will be mined to prevent infiltration by Azeri “saboteurs”. 

Armenians last week captured two Azeri IDPs from Kalbacar who travelled to their native village in defiance of the occupation.

Azerbaijan lost nearly 20 percent of its internationally-recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, in a war with Armenia after the Soviet breakup in 1991.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a ceasefire in 1994 but no peace agreement has been signed.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly said it reserves the right to resort to military force to regain control of the territory should peace efforts fail.

Bakudaily.az