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ANAMA Chairman: Areas are surveyed more accurately with drones during demining operations

08 September 2026 11:36 (UTC +04:00)

Unmanned aerial vehicles are used during humanitarian demining activities in Azerbaijan to study and survey areas more accurately, Chairman of the Board of the Mine Action Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ANAMA) Vugar Suleymanov said at a panel discussion titled “Benefits and Challenges of Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems” held as part of Baku Climate Action Week 2026 (BCAW 2026), APA reports.

He noted that during demining operations, detectors and magnetic locators that detect mines and explosive devices, deep-search equipment, devices such as DGPS for accurately determining geographical coordinates in the field, specialized mechanical demining equipment for survey and clearance operations, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles for more accurate study and surveying of areas are used: “The aim is both to ensure maximum safety and to organize the work process more efficiently. Ensuring safety, identifying risks in advance and informing people about dangers in a timely manner constitute a common approach that brings together various fields.”

The ANAMA Chairman spoke about the obstacles climate change creates for detecting mines: “Today, the nature of threats around the world is changing and becoming more complex. As a result of climate change, the intensity of floods, mudflows, landslides, droughts, forest fires and other natural disasters is increasing. At the same time, the threat posed by mines and other explosive ordnance left behind after conflicts creates serious obstacles to the safety of the population, infrastructure projects, agriculture, urban development and the return of people to their native lands.”

He recalled that Azerbaijan is among the countries most contaminated by mines in the world: “During the occupation of our territories, the Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions, which are rich in pristine ecosystems and are among the regions of our country with the purest and most beautiful nature, were contaminated with more than 1 million mines, according to preliminary estimates. At a minimum estimate, this means 480 tonnes of plastic material contaminated with harmful substances. However, the scale of the mine threat is not measured solely by the number of mines and explosive devices.”