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.
One police officer was said to have been killed and two others wounded in the operation on Sunday, Maria Titizian, a journalist based in Yerevan, told Al Jazeera.
"Several hostages are still being held, including a deputy police chief. Most of the roads into the capital Yerevan have now been blocked and several people are being detained in major gathering centres in the capital," Titizian said.
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 underway.
"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 were 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.
"Supporters of Jirair Sefilian have always said it would launch an armed uprising to get rid of the current authorities. His organisation maintains that this is an illegitimate government that came to power through flawed elections and is holding on to power against the will of the people," she added.
"Among their demands is the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan and the release of all political prisoners in Armenia. They do not have wide support in the country."
The security service said law enforcement agencies were working as normal to uphold public safety. TV images of the scene showed a heavy police presence with armoured vehicles blocking off the road to the police station.
The hostage takers' supporters were spreading what it called "disinformation" about the seizure of other buildings as part of a coup, according to the security service.
"The National Security Service officially announces that such information is absolutely untrue," it said.
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