Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Local residents stand near a damaged car in Barda, Azerbaijan, near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh after two weeks of heavy fighting that marked the worst outbreak of hostilities in the region in 25 years.

Diplomats from the two countries said in a statement the truce is intended to exchange prisoners and recover the dead.

They added that specific details will be agreed on later.

Smoke rises after shelling in Azerbaijan during the hostilities

The ceasefire will begin at 12pm on Saturday and follows 10 hours of talks between diplomats in Moscow, which were sponsored by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Mr Lavrov said the ceasefire should pave the way for talks on settling the conflict.

The latest outburst of fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces began on 27 September and left hundreds of people dead in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The region lies in Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994.

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