Armed men seize police station in Armenia
YEREVAN,  17 Jul - (ANA) - Armed men have seized a police station in Armenia's capital Yerevan and taken an unknown number of hostages on Sunday morning, the country's security service said. As of Sunday afternoonn, armored police vehicles had surrounded the station in preperation for a potential raid. Poghosyan said the police and security forces would "undertake necessary means” to bring an end to the hostage situation if the armed men refuse to surrender.
“Because there is no other way to deal with murderers," Poghosyan said. “But as long as there is still hope to end the situation through negotiations, we will continue to negotiate.” Negotiations were under way to resolve the situation peacefully, the National Security Service said, accusing the hostage takers' supporters of spreading false rumours on the internet that an armed uprising against the government 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," the security service said. Armenian news agencies reported that the armed men are demanding the release of Jirair Sefilian, an opposition leader and former military commander, who was arrested in June. Sefilian has strongly criticised Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan and is unhappy about the way the government has been handling a long-running conflict between pro-Armenian separatists and the breakaway Azeri region of Nagorno-Karabakh.(ANA)
FA/ANA/17 July 2016-----