BISHKEK: Kyrgyz security forces detained former president Almazbek Atambayev on Thursday, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, a day after a failed attempt to arrest him led to at least one death in violent clashes with his followers. Atambayev, who was initially wanted for questioning as a witness in an investigation, was taken to the interior ministry’s investigative unit.
The stand-off between Atambayev and his successor and former protege President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, risks destabilising the Central Asian nation which hosts a Russian military airbase and is a major centre for gold mining.
During the previous day’s botched raid, one member of the security forces was killed and six others were captured by Atambayev’s followers, the authorities say. — Reuters
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