<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Azerbaijan's president has declared that his country's sovereignty has been restored over Nagorno-Karabakh after a 24-hour military offensive against ethnic-Armenian forces.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ilham Aliyev praised the heroism of Azerbaijan's army hours after Karabakh forces agreed to surrender.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some 120,000 ethnic Armenians live in the South Caucasus enclave, recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Azerbaijan now intends to bring the breakaway region under full control.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Its military launched an "anti-terror" operation on Tuesday, demanding that Karabakh's forces raise a white flag and dissolve their "illegal regime". With no means of support from neighbouring Armenia, and after an effective nine-month blockade, the ethnic Armenians soon gave in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Armenian officials reported that at least 32 people were killed, including seven civilians, and another 200 wounded. However according to a separatist Armenian human rights official, at least 200 people were killed and more than 400 wounded. The BBC has not been able to verify any of the figures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Wednesday evening, Armenian officials accused Azerbaijan of opening fire on troops near the town of Sotk on the border between the two countries after the ceasefire had been agreed, but Azerbaijan immediately denied the claims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Yerevan, the Armenian capital, to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for his handling of the crisis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Azerbaijan's army said it had captured more than 90 positions from the ethnic Armenians before both sides announced that a complete cessation of hostilities had been agreed through Russian peacekeepers, starting at 13:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Wednesday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under the terms of the truce, outlined by Azerbaijan and Russia, which has peacekeepers on the ground, local Karabakh forces must commit to being completely disbanded as well as disarmed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is also a commitment to Armenian forces pulling out, even though its government denies having any military presence there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Azerbaijan's presidency said officials would meet Karabakh's Armenian representatives for talks on "issues of re-integration" in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh on Thursday. President Aliyev said Azerbaijanis had nothing against the population, only their "criminal junta".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yevlakh is some 100km (60 miles) north of Karabakh's regional capital, Khankendi, known as Stepanakert by Armenians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Civilians flee to airport</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Marut Vanyan, a journalist in Karabakh, said many families had spent Tuesday night in basements: "I didn't sleep and I didn't eat. It's calm now but it's a strange feeling. Right now, what we need to do is stop this bloodshed and understand what to do next."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia said its peacekeepers had evacuated 2,000 people from Karabakh villages since the offensive had begun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the ceasefire was announced, Karabakh officials appealed to residents to remain in shelters and not to leave for the local airport, adjacent to a Russian peacekeeping base. However, a crowd of civilians had soon gathered close to the airport and as darkness fell hours later it was unclear what support they would have.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Caucasus specialist Thomas de Waal of Carnegie Europe said the terms of the ceasefire and the coming talks were very much on Azerbaijan's terms and left ethnic Armenians looking unprotected.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This looks like the end of a 35-year-old project, some would say a century-old project, of the Armenians of Karabakh to secede from Azerbaijan," he told the BBC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're probably, unfortunately, seeing a project whereby the Azerbaijanis offer so little to the Karabakh Armenians that most if not all of them will leave."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made clear his government was not involved in the ceasefire text and demanded that Russian peacekeepers take full responsibility for the safety of the local population. On Tuesday he accused Azerbaijan of "ethnic cleansing" in Karabakh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Azerbaijan's presidential envoy Elchin Amirbekov told the BBC that Russian peacekeepers had helped facilitate the ceasefire: "I think they have to be counted on for the implementation part." BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>