Police shoot 12 dead in Kyrgyzstan as protesters challenge police crackdown, storm buildings

Police shoot 12 dead at Kyrgyz opposition rally

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Witnesses saw police in Kyrgyzstan shoot dead at least 12 people and wound another dozen after opening fire on thousands of angry protesters who tried to seize the Central Asian nation’s main government building.

An AP reporter saw 12 bodies as the crowd retreated.

Opposition activist Toktoim Umetalieva, who was in the crowd, says 17 people have died.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Police in Kyrgyzstan opened fire Wednesday on thousands of angry protesters who tried to seize the Central Asian nation’s main government building amid rioting in the capital. At least four protesters were shot dead.

Police in Bishkek at first used rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons and concussion grenades to try to control crowds of young men clad in black who were chasing officers, beating them up and seizing their arms, trucks and armored personnel carriers.

The opposition — galvanized by growing public dissent under increasingly authoritarian President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and anger over huge increases in the cost of utilities — has vowed not to be intimidated by a government crackdown. Almost all opposition leaders were arrested overnight, according to an opposition lawmaker.

“We don’t want this rotten power!” protester Makhsat Talbadyev said, as he and others in Bishkek waved opposition party flags and chanted: “Bakiyev out!”

The unrest has threatened the relative stability of this mountainous former Soviet nation seen by both Russia and the U.S. as a strategic neighbor to Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan hosts a U.S. base that supports military operations there.

Amid the protests, anti-government protesters tried to use one of the personnel carriers to ram the gates of the government headquarters, known as the White House. About a half dozen young protesters shot Kalashnikovs into the air from the square in front of the building. Several police officers were seen bleeding heavily from the beatings.

Some 200 elite police forces tried to push back the crowd but were forced back toward the White House. Then police opened fire.

At least 10 opposition leaders were arrested overnight and were being held at the security headquarters in Bishkek, opposition lawmaker Irina Karamushkina said.

“Authorities chose terror as a response” to popular protests, she said.

The protesters in Bishkek appeared to be leaderless, and some even drunk.

Unrest also broke out for a second day in the western town of Talas and spread to the southern city of Naryn.

Some 5,000 protesters seized Naryn’s regional administration building and installed a new governor, opposition activist Adilet Eshenov said. At least four people were wounded in clashes, including the regional police chief, he said.

Another 10,000 protesters stormed police headquarters in Talas, where on Tuesday protesters held the regional governor hostage in his office.

Witnesses said the crowd in Talas, mostly middle-aged men from nearby villages, looted police headquarters Wednesday, removing computers and furniture. Dozens of police officers left the building and mingled with protesters.

The prime minister, meanwhile, accused the opposition of provoking the violence in the country of 5 million people.

“What kind of opposition is this? They are just bandits,” Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov said.

Hundreds of protesters overran the government building Tuesday on Talas’ main square. They were initially dispersed by baton-wielding police, but then fought through tear gas and flash grenades to regroup, burning police cars and hurling stones and Molotov cocktails.

Usenov said Tuesday’s violence in Talas had left 85 officers injured and 15 unaccounted for.

The president, Bakiyev, came to power after spearheading 2005 street protests dubbed the Tulip Revolution, which ousted his predecessor while accusing him of corruption, cronyism and cracking down on the opposition.

Five years later, Bakiyev is facing similar accusations from an opposition that says he has sacrificed democratic standards to maintain peace while consolidating power in the hands of his brothers and son.

Authorities over the past two years have clamped down on free media, and opposition activists say they have routinely been subjected to intimidation and targeted by politically motivated criminal investigations.

Associated Press Writer Leila Saralayeva contributed to this report.