Supporters of Kyrgyzstan’s ex-president Almazbek Atambayev react after fight with special forces members at Atambayev’s residence in the village of Koi-Tash, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the capital, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019.Image Credit: AP
Thu 08 August 2019:
Atambayev’s supporters took up arms to fend off the attempt to seize the ex-leader
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: Ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan was on the brink of a full-blown political crisis Thursday after a special forces operation to detain former president Almazbek Atambayev failed, leaving an officer dead and a police chief in critical condition.
Kyrgyzstan – a Central Asian country of six million which has seen two presidents overthrown in less than three decades of independence – has been roiled by the standoff between Atambayev, who was in office from 2011 to 2017, and his successor Sooronbai Jeenbekov.
On Wednesday the confrontation escalated after the State National Security Service (GKNB) said its special forces were undertaking a “special operation” to detain the former president from his compound in the village of Koi-Tash.
An AFP correspondent saw police and hundreds of Atambayev supporters hurl stones at each other in Koi-Tash, where Internet and mobile networks appeared to have been cut by authorities.
The correspondent saw some supporters forcibly disarm and beat special forces officers who they then took hostage. It was unclear if they were later released.
The health ministry on Thursday said the head of the Chui province police department was in critical condition after sustaining concussion during the clashes.
According to the state prosecutor, a total of 23 civilians and 24 members of law enforcement were hospitalised in the violence.
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