The Viasna human rights centre said more than 30 demonstrators were detained.

Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with Russia, has been rocked by street protests and strikes since authorities announced that veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko had won an Aug. 9 vote by a landslide.

Lukashenko's office said that "the goal of the president was to hear everyone's opinion." Among 11 jailed activists who attended the meeting were several members of the opposition's Coordination Council and Viktor Babariko, the former head of a major Russia-owned bank.

The crowd, waving white flags with a red stripe, marched to the beat of drums towards detention centres where political prisoners were believed to be held, according to pictures and videos posted on social media.

Riot police pulled people out of crowds and hauled them away into vans, a Reuters witness said. The Russian news agency Interfax said at least 10 people had been detained.

Hundreds of women calling for the authoritarian president to step down protested in Belarus' capital on Saturday, continuing the large demonstrations that have rocked the country since early August.

Videos shared by local media outlets showed security forces in helmets or masks hauling protesters off the streets.

On Saturday, at least 5,000 people had marched through the city demanding the release of a jailed opposition leader, in the latest in a wave of mass protests after the Aug 9 presidential vote.

Belarus police detained dozens of protesters on Saturday as thousands of people gathered in the capital Minsk demanding the release of a jailed opposition leader, the latest in a wave of mass protests following a disputed election.

Masked men detained Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova in central Minsk on Monday morning and drove her away in a van and two of her allies also disappeared later, the opposition movement said.