- Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Islamist militants die in police raid
- Date: 6th January 2011
- Summary: VILLAGE STRELNIKOVO, CHUISK REGION, KYRGYZSTAN (JANUARY 5, 2011) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) BUNKER AT NIGHT, AUDIBLE GUNFIRE FIRE INSIDE BUNKER, AUDIBLE GUNFIRE BUNKER IN FLAMES, AUDIBLE GUNFIRE BLOODY JACKET ON GROUND BULLET ON GROUND POLICEMEN ON STREET LEGS OF TRAFFIC POLICEMEN AND HIS BATON TANK AND CARS DRIVING PAST POLICEMEN BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (JANUARY 5, 2011) (REUTERS) MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS ZARYLBEK RYSALIEV ARRIVING AT PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS ZARYLBEK RYSALIEV, SAYING: "Our policemen have been attacked. Representatives of the investigations department of the ministry of home affairs and local police department representatives came upon the crime scene." JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS ZARYLBEK RYSALIEV, SAYING: "At the scene we found three of our officers who died of gunshot wounds." BUILDING IN BISHKEK WHERE POLICEMEN WERE GUNNED DOWN, CAR DRIVING PAST HOUSE NUMBER READING 8/1, A MAN STANDING IN FRONT OF BUILDING, ANOTHER WALKING BY BUILDING WINDOWS
- Embargoed: 21st January 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan
- Country: Kyrgyzstan
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVABTLC79ZLWOE2QYVJEL8SXV1RH
- Story Text: Kyrgyz security forces killed two suspected Islamist militants in a raid on Wednesday (January 5) on rebels accused of killing three policemen on Tuesday.
One officer of the GKNB security service died of wounds sustained during the attack, a police spokesman said.
Kyrgyz security officials had pledged tough punishment for "religious extremists" who they say shot the three policemen in a residential area of the capital Bishkek.
"Two terrorists were destroyed during the special operation. One was wounded, captured and is now being interrogated," police spokesman Rakhmatillo Akhmedov said after the gunfight in the village of Besh-Kungei outside Bishkek.
He said security forces were chasing the rest of the group, but did not say how many of them there were. Police said earlier they suspected six Kyrgyz-born men of killing the policemen in a residential area of Bishkek.
Home affairs minister Zarylbek Rysaliev told a news conference: "Our policemen have been attacked. Representatives of the investigations department of the ministry of home affairs and local police department representatives came upon the crime scene. At the scene we found three of our officers who died of gunshot wounds."
The fact that the shootout between the security forces and the suspects took place just 10 km (6 miles) from Bishkek underlined Kyrgyzstan's instability after a year of upheaval and violence.
A mainly Muslim nation where both Russia and the United States hold military air bases, Kyrgyzstan saw its president deposed in a bloody revolt last April. In June, it was rocked by ethnic riots, in which at least 400 people were killed.
The impoverished nation, which lies on a drug trafficking route out of Afghanistan, has elected a new legislature, laying the foundation to become the first parliamentary democracy in authoritarian Central Asia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
