200 Detained Over Police HQs Capture In Armenia
MEP: At least 200 people have been arrested in the Armenian capital, Yerevan after a group of gunmen stormed a police headquarters in Erebuni district and took several hostages, the country’s officials said.
The Sunday’s attack also killed one policeman and injured two others while the two sides exchanged gunfire.
Armenia’s National Security Service said the gunmen were demanding the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan and release of opposition leader Zhirair Sefilyan.
The armed group is reportedly holding seven policemen hostage, including Armenia’s deputy police chief General Major Vardan Egiazaryan and Yerevan deputy police chief Colonel Valeri Osipyan.
Sefilyan, an ethnic Armenian who was born in Lebanon and fought during the Arab country’s civil war of the 1980s, has served jail terms since 2006 on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. He was arrested in June over alleged possession of firearms.
According to local media, the detainees are being held at police custody to examine if they have any links with the armed groups.
