A group of 20 gunmen that captured a police station in Yerevan on July 17 demanding the release of an opposition politician have surrendered.
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“We are deeply troubled by the ongoing hostage situation, and call for the immediate, safe, and unconditional release of medical personnel held captive since Wednesday, and any others who may wish to leave the police building in Erebuni”, reads a statement on the Embassy’s Facebook page.
Dozens were injured and 26 arrested in the early hours of Saturday after authorities broke up a rally near the police station, where the armed pro-opposition group has been holed up for nearly two weeks with several hostages.
“A sniper opened fire from inside the police station and killed a police officer. who was sitting in a vehicle parked 350-400 metres away”, police spokesman Ashot Aharonyan wrote on Facebook.
An armed group which seized a police building in Armenian capital has opened fire and killed one policeman, the press service of Armenian police said, Sputnik reported. “Otherwise special police units are empowered to open fire and to neutralize every armed man at the police station as well as outside it”, the statement said. “Twenty terrorists have been arrested.” .
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. Police officers detain a supporter of the armed group who have been holding a police station in Yerevan, Armenia, Friday, July 29, 2016.
At a demonstration, Sefilyan openly said that he believes “achieving the shift of power only through elections is impossible; it can be achieved only by an armed rebellion of the people”.
Earlier on Friday, police had exchanged fire with the gunmen, wounding two, who were taken to hospital under armed guard. “We feel that our victory is close and call on Armenian people to continue the fight”, he said. They also demand the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan and the creation of a transitional government. Police used flashbangs to disperse the crowd.
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The hostage crisis and violence has shaken the small landlocked ex-Soviet nation, just months after a surge in the conflict with Azerbaijan over separatist ethnic-Armenian region of Nagorny-Karabakh left 110 people dead in April.
