An armed group with links to a jailed opposition leader seized a police building in Yerevan on Sunday, killing one policeman and taking several more hostage, including top officers.
One of the gunmen said they were demanding the resignation of President Serzh Sarkisian and the release of political prisoners but the country's security services dismissed rumours on social media that a coup was under way.
"A group of armed men entered the premises of a police regiment in Yerevan and is holding hostages under the threat of violence," Armenia's National Security Service said in a statement.
"One policeman was killed and two others wounded. Two hostages were freed," it said.
One of the gunmen said on social media that the hostages in the police station in Yerevan's Erebuni district included the country's deputy police chief.
Nikol Pashinyan, a lawmaker who met the hostage-takers, told journalists that the group had taken eight police hostage but released one who was suffering from high blood pressure.
"The Armenian State continues to operate normally, police carry out their duties to protect public order and security," the security service said, dismissing the coup rumours.
Media reports said the group was demanding the release of Zhirair Sefilyan, an opposition politician who was arrested last month for alleged possession of firearms.
"We demand the release of Zhirair Sefilyan, we will only obey his orders. Sarkisian must resign," one of the group members, Varuzhan Avetisyan, wrote on Facebook.
Published - July 17, 2016 06:41 pm IST
