[Updated] DEVELOPING: Armed Group Seizes Police Headquarters in Erebuni
- (0)
Photo captures armed group entering police headquarters
YEREVAN—One person has been reportedly killed and several wounded as an armed group has seized the headquarters of the police and interior troops in Erebuni, according to local media.
Armenia’s National Security Service issued an announcement confirming the incursion, adding that law enforcement is working to stabilize the situation and all aspects of the country’s security infrastructure are working in their normal capacity.
“This morning, a group of armed attackers stormed an Armenian police patrol regiment headquarters, and they are holding people hostage there at gunpoint,” reads the statement.
“At the moment, we’re carrying out negotiations with the armed group to ensure their peaceful surrender to the authorities,” the statement continued, adding that supporters of the attackers have been spreading false information about “an armed rebellion” through social media.
“This information being disseminated does not correspond to the truth. State government bodies are working in standard operating mode, and law enforcement authorities are conducting activities to ensure public order and state security,” added the statement.
Azatutyun.am has said that local residents around the seized building reported gun fire and explosions at around 5 a.m. local time.
Residents in the surrounding streets were ordered to evacuate at around 12:30 p.m. local time.
The attack seems to be orchestrated by a group sympathetic to opposition activist Jirayr Sefilian, who was detained last month. The attackers are demanding his immediate release.
In an interview with Yerkir.am, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia Chairman Aghvan Vartanyan said that the group has sought the wrong and a condemnable method to initiate immediate reforms in the country.
“Radical approaches undermine efforts for quantitative change. Issues will not be resolved through the use of arms, force, hostages or terror,” said Vartanyan.
“It is sad the headlines in the international press about the coup attempt in Turkey will be replaced with events in Armenia. The rest is the responsibility of law enforcement, which in my opinion, up till now, have not done their best,” added Vartanyan.
