A group of armed men has took control over a police station in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, on Sunday, July 17. The attack has been viewed as part of the planned coup against the government.
Police block off streets as negotiators talk to the armed group Credit: Reuters
The gunmen have taken several hostages and now demand the release of “political prisoners”, including opposition leader and military commander Jirair Sefilian who was arrested in June this year.
They also urged Armenians to take to the streets to support regime change. In a recently released video they said: “Dear friends, citizens, Armenian nation, it has begun, we are doing this for you… Go out to the streets!”
There are reports that a policeman had been killed and two wounded in the Yerevan attack. Local media report about undergoing negotiations with the group to resolve the standoff peaceful
Policemen block a street after a group of armed men seized a police station along with an unknown number of hostages, according the country’s security service, in Yerevan, Armenia, July 17, 2016. REUTERS/Melik Baghdasaryan/Photolure
Armenia’s National Security Service issued a statement accusing the group’s supporters of “spreading misinformation on mass media and social networks about an armed rebellion and about buildings being taken over… the information is not correct.”
“This and any other illegal activity will be curbed by the law enforcement agencies and their perpetrators will be neutralised and punished by law,” it added.
The seige comes days after a failed coup in neighbouring Turkey by a faction of Turkish military, in which 265 people were killed and about 1,500 injured.
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