Kyrgyzstan: officer killed in raid on ex-premier's home

By Ali Cura, Emre Gurkan Abay and Nezir Aliyev

BISHKEK (AA) - A police offer was killed Wednesday during an operation to arrest former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev at his residence south of the capital.

According to Kyrgyzstan’s Health Ministry, at least 36 people, including 15 security forces, were injured during the operation and one of the police officers succumbed to his wounds at a hospital.

Hundreds of Atambayev’s supporters are attempting to defend him, and a wide range of security measures have been taken around his compound, which is located in the village of Koi-Tash, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Bishkek.

Atambayev, whose immunity was lifted, has been refusing to obey a subpoena in an unspecified criminal probe.

The area is closed to the traffic while phone and Internet connections have been cut.

Sounds of gunfire were heard from Atambayev’s residence as security forces battled with his supporters.

- President cuts holiday short

Kyrgyzstan’s current President Sooronbay Jeenbekov has returned to Bishkek, cutting his vacation short.

The presidency’s press service said Jeenbekov will convene a meeting of the security council shortly.

Atambayev, who served as president from 2011 to 2017, has been accused of corruption, which he denies. The Kyrgyz parliament stripped him of immunity in June.

Despite being relatively stable, Kyrgyzstan has experienced periods of volatility since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

In 2005 and 2010, the then presidents were deposed in violent protests that left hundreds dead.

Most of Kyrgyzstan’s six million people are Turkic-speaking Muslims, and the north and south of the country are divided by wealth and ethnic tensions.