Three Killed In Nagorno-Karabakh Demining Group Operation

HALO Trust workers in Armenia in 2015

Three people working for a land-mine clearing charity have been killed after their vehicle hit a mine in Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, officials said.

A spokeswoman for the de facto health ministry in Nagorno-Karabakh, Maya Azatian, told RFE/RL that two other people who were in the car were injured in the March 29 blast.

Representatives of HALO Trust told RFE/RL that all the victims were local residents.

The HALO Trust is a registered British charity and U.S. nonprofit organization whose mission is to remove debris left behind by war, particularly land mines.

Nagorno-Karabakh, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan during a 1988-94 war that killed some 30,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Three decades of diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the conflict have brought little progress.