At least one person died and many others were injured on Saturday evening after Armenian police fired tracer bullets to break up opposition protests in the capital, an opposition demonstrator said.

"He was killed by a tracer bullet which must have ricocheted as police were shooting in the air to disperse an opposition rally being held nearby," the opposition activist told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "We know of many wounded people."

"The opposition is still controlling the square near the mayor's office," he added. He said there are Italian, French and Russian embassies nearby. "The man who was killed died near the Russian legation."