Female de-miners of Nagorno-Karabakh

We sit in the sparse living area of a HALO base camp, perched high up on the ridges of a valley in Berdzor (Lachin). Here, Narine Asatryan tells me that finding a landmine is a feeling like no other.

For more than two decades, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have lived with the deadly legacy of war. The first Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994), fought between the former Soviet republics Armenia and Azerbaijan, left the region heavily laced with unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Today, landmines and other UXO continue to contaminate the land, putting lives at risk and hindering economic recovery.

The HALO Trust – an organisation dedicated to clearing landmines around the world – worked in Nagorno-Karabakh from 2000 and established its first female de-mining team in 2015. Defying traditional gender roles, these women were able to provide for their families while making a tangible difference in their communities.

I travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh to hear their stories.

Inga, one of The HALO Trust’s de-miners, at the HALO base near the Karegah minefield in Berdzor (Lachin), Nagorno-Karabakh, 2018.

Anti-aircraft cables stretch across a valley in the Lachin region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite the ceasefire of 1994, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan remain high over the contested region.

Varditer says the hardest part of the job is being away from her family. From Monday to Friday she is based at the minefield but dedicates the whole weekend to her kids, aged 16 and 9.

Alvina searches for PMN-2 anti-personnel mines at Marzili. Manufactured in the Soviet Union, these mines can be triggered by any form of pressure and were used heavily during the Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994). While originally designed to disable an adult, a PMN-2 can kill a child.

Christine at Aghavnatun minefield.

Alvina at Marzili minefield. In the background, red posts mark the boundary between cleared and uncleared land.

Lucine's motivation to become a de-miner was personal; her uncle was killed by an OZM-72 mine. Typically activated by a tripwire, the mine that killed him was triggered accidentally by someone else.

Emergency first aid gear at the Aghavnatun minefield. Each de-mining team typically contains two paramedics.

Military positions once lined the tops of these hills during the Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994). When the residents of a nearby village noticed a landmine they alerted The HALO Trust, who dispatched a team to survey and clear the area. The village, being just 1.2km away, means children regularly come to play here. The team carries out a full excavation so that they can ensure the land is mine-free before handing it back to the local community.

Looking across the valley from the Aghavnatun minefield.

Svetlana at Marzili minefield. Behind her, red markers show the boundary between cleared and uncleared land.

Christine working at Aghvnatun minefield.

Update 2025: Renewed conflict in 2020, followed by Azerbaijan’s military operation, have since displaced nearly all ethnic Armenians from Karabakh and brought HALO’s operations in the region to an end. The HALO Trust is still clearing landmines and other explosive devices left behind by conflicts around the world.