Armenia has been thrust into crisis since an unknown number of gunmen seized the Erebuni police station in Yerevan on July 17, killing one officer and taking hostages.
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Several protesters on Friday were wounded in the skirmishes near the police building in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, where the hostages have been held since July 17. Riot police tried to prevent demonstrators who back the opposition group from reaching the besieged building. Police officers detain a supporter of the armed group who have been holding a police station in Yerevan, Armenia, Friday, July 29, 2016.
Sixty people were taken to various hospitals around the capital to be treated for injuries including burns and broken limbs, the health ministry said.
They have since freed all the police but on Wednesday seized four medical staff who had entered the compound to treat some of their wounds, two of whom were later released.
The group had lambasted the government of the former Soviet republic and urged people to protest to force the president and the prime minister to step down.
“Or else, special units of law-enforcement bodies will be authorized to open fire and neutralize, without prior warnings, any armed person in and outside the [seized] police regiment”, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said in a statement issued at 4 p.m. local time. On July 30, the sound of explosions and gunfire was constantly heard around the police compound.
Two officers died in the standoff, which also triggered opposition protests with clashes and arrests.
In a sign of the deep divisions within Armenian society, the gunmen had attracted sympathy from several thousand opposition protestors, leading to street clashes with police. The demonstrators blocked traffic for about two hours, but dispersed peacefully early Sunday and no violence was reported. Police spokesman Ashot Agaronyan said in a statement that the officer was in a vehicle close to the station when he was killed by sniper fire, according to TASS, a Russian news agency.
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During the fortnight-long drama the armed men also took hostages, freeing the final two, both medics, late Saturday. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
