Armenia: 73 injured in clashes with riot police, 23 detained

Riot police in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, have clashed with supporters of an armed group barricaded with hostages inside a police station.

“Sixty people were hospitalized as a result of the police dispersion of demonstrations held around the territory of the patrol police building captured by an armed group in Yerevan”, Ministry of Health spokesperson Anahit Aytayan told Sputnik Armenia.

Armenia’s security services had hours earlier issued an ultimatum to gunmen holding up a police station Saturday, in a bid to resolve the weeks-long hostage crisis after dozens were hurt in overnight clashes.

Supporters of the armed group that seized a police headquarters in Yerevan on June 17 launched another rally on Saturday, July 30.

One of the gunmen locked in a protracted stand-off in a police station in the Armenian capital Yerevan shot an officer dead today, a police spokesman said.

But the standoff between the men-who want the release of opposition leader Jirair Sefilian and the resignation of Serge Sarkisian, Armenia’s president-and authorities has continued.

Police spokesman Ashot Agaronyan said on Facebook the policeman was in a vehicle 400 meters (yards) from the station when he was killed by sniper fire. Within a week, the group had released all its hostages. The opposition group has sharply criticized the government of the former Soviet republic and called for people to take to the streets to force the president and the prime minister to step down.

Three of the gunmen were wounded in Friday’s exchange of gunfire with police, with two taken to hospital under armed guard.

When several hundred supporters of the gunmen attempted late Friday to approach the station, they were stopped by rows of riot police and clashes broke out.

Investigators claim Sefilian’s faction was planning to seize government buildings and communications facilities.

For almost two weeks, Armenian police officers and opposition supporters have been stuck in a cycle of violence.

Dozens of people have been hospitalised and 26 arrested following clashes between police and protesters in Yerevan, Armenian authorities said Saturday.

Several journalists reported suffering flesh burns after being hit with police flashbangs. Using tear gas and stun grenades, the police charged towards them after the protest leaders ignored senior law-enforcement officers’ orders to walk back to the city center.