The Armenian government says nearly 5,000 ethnic Armenians have fled into the country from the Nagorno-Karabakh region, following the recent military action by Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijan military on Tuesday last week launched what it called anti-terrorist operations in Nagorno-Karabakh. Since ethnic Armenian troops in the conflict region agreed to disarm, many residents have been moving to Armenia.

The Armenian government said 4,850 people had arrived in the country as of noon on Monday.

About 120,000 ethnic Armenians are said to live in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Reuters news agency quoted an official in the ethnic Armenian leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh as saying, "Our people do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan. 99.9% prefer to leave our historic lands." The ethnic Armenians say they fear repression.

In the Armenian capital Yerevan, people have joined large-scale protests, criticizing the government for the effective defeat and demanding that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan step down. Local media reported on Monday that 168 of the protesters have been detained by police.

Azerbaijan government officials and representatives of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh are holding talks on the ethnic Armenians' disarmament and citizenship in the future. But the situation remains unstable.