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A GKNB special forces operator is detained by supporters of Kyrgyz former president Almazbek Atambayev guarding his house. Photo: EPA

Political turmoil grips China neighbour Kyrgyzstan as ex-president evades arrest in bungled special forces raid on his compound

  • Elite forces seek to arrest former president on corruption charges
  • He lost immunity after falling out with his successor
Central Asia
Agencies

Kyrgyzstan’s elite security forces attempted to arrest former president Almazbek Atambayev at his compound, but his supporters kept them at bay and killed at least one operative in a bungled operation that also left almost 40 people injured.

The raid at Atambayev’s residence south of Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek began Wednesday evening and continued into the predawn hours Thursday.

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament has accused Atambayev of corruption and stripped him of immunity from prosecution in June after he fell out with current president Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

The raid raises concerns about political stability in the fragile Central Asian state, which borders China and hosts a Russian military airbase.

A GKNB special forces operator being assaulted by supporters of former president Almazbek Atambayev guarding his house. Photo: EPA

Atambayev, who ruled Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2017 before handing over to Jeenbekov, has increased security at his estate of Koi-Tash in recent weeks, as tensions between him and Jeenbekov rise.

Clashes broke out there Wednesday after Kyrgyzstan’s national security committee (GKNB) said its special forces were undertaking a “special operation to detain former president Almazbek Atambayev”.

The GKNB claimed that special forces were armed “only with rubber bullets” while Atambayev’s supporters had shot back with firearms.

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The special forces officer died from a gunshot wound after Atambayev’s supporters tried to prevent him being detained, the Kyrgyz health ministry said.

The health ministry said that 36 people, including 15 members of the security services, had been admitted to hospital with injuries.

Supporters of Kyrgyzstan's ex-president Almazbek Atambayev brandish weapons during a fight with special forces. Photo: AP

Atambayev is accused of a range of crimes, including corruption and the expropriation of property.

He has ignored three police summons for questioning in a case connected to the surprise release from jail of a well-known underworld boss during his presidency.

Mirbek Aitikeyev, an eyewitness at Koi-Tash who broadcast footage from the compound live on Facebook, said that some of the former president’s loyalists had seized weapons from special forces.

“His supporters stole weapons from the special forces, who retreated under the onslaught of the crowd. Atambayev is still at his home … there are rumours that additional forces will be sent. The people here are making preparations,” Aitikeyev said.

Injured supporters of former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev guard his house. Photo: AFP

Dmitriy Lozhnikov, a member of the political council in Atambayev’s Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, also told Russia’s state-owned news channel, Russia-24, that electricity to the village had been cut.

Following the lifting of his immunity by parliament, which Atambayev says was unconstitutional, the former president vowed to “stand to the end” against the charges, calling Jeenbekov’s administration a “mafia clan”.

Former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev stands at the entrance to his residence in the village of Koi-Tash. File photo: AFP

The two men were once friends and Atambayev backed Jeenbekov’s candidacy in the 2017 vote. But they fell out just months after Jeenbekov’s inauguration as Atambayev publicly criticised his successor.

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Atambayev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July, suggesting that he enjoys Kremlin support.

But Putin later said Russia was committed to working with Jeenbekov.

Jeenbekov’s office announced that the president had cut short his holiday at a popular lakeside resort in the mountainous country and would convene a meeting of the security council Thursday.

Supporters of former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev guard his house with guns. Photo: AFP

In the footage shot inside the compound by Aitikeyev, Atambayev could be seen meeting his supporters, when people suddenly started screaming and running for cover as gunshots ring out.

Several people could be seen injured and bleeding as armed masked people in military fatigues and helmets run through the gates.

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“Don’t shoot at people!” somebody screamed.

Kyrgyz media said the road leading to the Koi-Tash residence has been blocked and an angry crowd formed next to the police cars.

Wounded special forces members lie inside Kyrgyzstan's ex-president Almazbek Atambayev's residence. Photo: AP

Atambayev became Kyrgyzstan’s first elected president to hand over power peacefully in 2017, following revolutions in 2005 and 2010.

Jeenbekov has accused Atambayev of seeking to control politics from the comfort of retirement.

The conflict between the two men, both of whom have been accused of using law enforcement agencies to get rid of political opponents, could turn into a full-blown political crisis.

Atambayev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July, suggesting that he enjoys Kremlin support.

But Putin later said Russia was committed to working with Jeenbekov.

GKNB special forces take part in an operation top try and arrest former president Almazbek Atambayev. Photo: EPA

The conflict in Kyrgyzstan is likely to be watched with apprehension both in Russia and China, whose political and economic interests in the country deepened during Atambayev’s rule.

Kyrgyzstan, once hailed as an “island of democracy” in post-Soviet Central Asia, has repeatedly been shaken by political upheavals.

Its first two presidents after independence were both driven from office by riots.

Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: officer dies in raid of ex-president’s home
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