BREAKING NEWS

Kyrgyzstan says it foiled two ISIS attacks

By REUTERS

JULY 17, 2015 15:08

BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan's security police said on Friday they had prevented two major attacks by Islamic State.

A day after security forces killed six gunmen in two firefights in the capital Bishkek, the police identified them as IS members and said seven others had been captured in a mopping-up operation.

It is the first time authorities in former Soviet Central Asia have reported armed clashes with militants of the ultra-hardline jihadist group, which is based in Iraq and Syria.

"Yes, they were all Islamic State members," said Rakhat Sulaimanov, a spokesman for the GKNB security police.

"They had planned two terrorist attacks - one in the central square (of Bishkek) during today's prayers ending the month of Ramadan, and another one at the (Russian) airbase in Kant."

The group was led by Zhanbolat Amirov, a national of neighboring Kazakhstan wanted by police after his escape from a Kyrgyz prison, the security police said in a separate statement. Amirov was killed during the operation, the spokesman said.

Authorities in the poor, mostly Muslim country have said repeatedly they are worried about the risk of locals joining militant groups in Iraq and Syria, then returning to mount attacks at home.

Fears of militancy have been echoed by Russia, which deploys warplanes and helicopters at Kant near Bishkek, and by governments of other former Soviet republics in the region. To date, however, there have been no reports of such attacks.

Kyrgyzstan's Interior Ministry has said it knows of more than 350 Kyrgyz citizens who have gone to fight for Islamic State in Syria, more than 30 of whom have died.

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