Armed men try to break into police department in Armenia’s capital

The spring panorama view of Yerevan, Armenia from the Antarayin neighborhood near the Cascades on March 11, 2014. (Wikimapia Commons)

Three armed men on March 24 attempted to break into a police department in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, the country's Interior Ministry reported.

One of them threw a grenade, injuring the two other attackers. The injured, a 52-year-old and a 56-year-old, have been hospitalized following the explosion, the Armenian office of the RFE/RL reported.

One of the attackers is standing opposite the police department building, and the police are trying to arrest him, the local news outlet News.Am reported.

The demands of the armed men are unknown. Some of the Russian media reports and propagandists claimed the Combat Brotherhood, a nationalist group, was behind the attack.

Earlier on March 24, 49 members of the Combat Brotherhood were arrested on suspicion of illegal possession of weapons and explosives.

The organization was founded by former military personnel who participated in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. They oppose the transfer of Armenian border villages to Azerbaijan.

The Combat Brotherhood issued a statement denying its involvement in the incident. The organization also accused Russian state media of spreading fake news and manipulations.

“The Combat Brotherhood union has acted, is acting and will act exclusively within the framework of the law,” the organization said in a Facebook post following the Russian state media's claims.

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