(ANSA-AFP) - MINSK, 12 OTT - Police deployed water cannon and stun grenades and detained hundreds of demonstrators in Minsk Sunday after Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko raised hopes for change by meeting jailed opposition figures. Large numbers of black-clad masked police, internal troops and men in plain clothes emerged from minibuses and ran towards protesters in the capital Minsk, pulling some to the ground and hitting them with batons, witness footage on independent news sites showed. Medics tended to the injured, bandaging those who had been left bleeding. In one video, filmed by a reporter for the Nasha Niva independent newspaper, internal troops appear to run towards demonstrators while threatening them with guns. "In Minsk at least, water cannon and stun grenades were used," interior ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova told AFP. She said that the number of detainees would only be released Monday, while the Viasna rights group, which monitors detentions at political protests, said almost 250 people had been detained in Minsk and around 35 in other cities. (ANSA-AFP).