Clashes in Kyrgyzstan kill 1, injure more than 60 people in battle to control gov’t buildings

Clashes in Kyrgyzstan kill 1, injure more than 60

JALAL-ABAD, Kyrgyzstan — Gunfire erupted in Kyrgyzstan on Friday as hundreds of interim government backers fought supporters of deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for control over regional government buildings. At least one person was killed and more than 60 injured in the worst violence since last month’s forceful government change.

The opponents exchanged gunshots, hurled stones and fought with sticks on a square in front of the regional government building in Jalal-Abad, the administrative center of a province in southwestern Kyrgyzstan.

Several hundred Bakiyev supporters, some armed with automatic rifles, had holed up in the building overnight after capturing it Thursday evening, but were driven out on Friday by backers of the interim government.

The interim government’s backers also ejected a pro-Bakiyev crowd Friday from the regional government offices in Osh, the country’s second-largest city about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Jalal-Abad. The two sides threw rock at one another, but no serious injuries were reported there.

Both cities are in southern Kyrgyzstan, the power base for Bakiyev, who was ousted April 7 amid clashes between government forces and protesters that left at least 85 people dead in the capital, Bishkek. Bakiyev fled to the ex-Soviet nation of Belarus.

Witnesses in Teyit, the village hosting Bakiyev’s family compound, said about 500 pro-government supporters set fire to the deserted homes of Bakiyev’s relatives. Farid Niyazov, a spokesman for interim authorities, confirmed to The Associated Press that three houses had been torched.

The prospect of further disturbances in Kyrgyzstan will cause alarm in Washington and Moscow, which both have military bases in the Central Asian nation.

The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek voiced concern about the unrest and urged parties to refrain from violence, while the Kremlin sent former Russian Security Council secretary Vladimir Rushailo as a special envoy to Kyrgyzstan.

In Moscow, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met with U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle to discuss coordinated efforts to help stability in Kyrgyzstan, the Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Security Council current secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, said Moscow would not interfere as Kyrgyzstan’s interim government was capable of restoring order, according to Russian news wires.

About 4,000 backers of the Ata-Meken party that supports the interim government had arrived Friday in Jalal-Abad to try to evict the occupiers, but many dispersed when gunfire broke out, leaving a crowd of several hundred.

Some men in the approaching mob returned fire, while others fought with sticks. At least 1 person died of wounds and more than 60 others were injured, including 32 with gunshot wounds, the Health Ministry said.

During a second wave of the gunfire exchange Friday afternoon, an Associated Press reporter saw one man hit by a bullet in the shoulder.

“The interim government has the situation under total control, with the exception of Jalal-Abad,” General Prosecutor Azimbek Beknazarov said. “Within one day, we will settle the situation in Jalal-Abad.”

There were no signs of disturbances in the capital, though about 400 Ata-Meken party supporters rallied in support of the interim government while others marched around Bishkek waving red flags, which they did before driving Bakiyev from power

Prosecutors also disclosed details of what they called a wiretapped telephone exchange between Bakiyev’s former adviser Usen Sydykov and a lawmaker about organizing rallies in southern Kyrgyzstan.

The general prosecutor said Sydykov — seen as a behind-the-scenes power broker in Kyrgyzstan — is heard issuing instructions for the seizure of administrative buildings in Osh and Jalal-Abad.

Sydykov has been arrested for his involvement in the clashes, Beknazarov said, while militia groups have been formed across the country to prevent more riots by Bakiyev supporters.

The acting security services director, Keneshbek Duishebayev, accused members of Bakiyev’s family, in particular his oldest son, Marat, of fomenting instability.

Speaking at an emergency government meeting, Duishebayev alleged that Marat Bakiyev, who was deputy head of the KGB successor agency until his father’s ouster, was based in neighboring Kazakhstan and has provided $1 million to fund public disturbances.