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Kyrgyz forces detain former president Atambayev

AFP

BISHKEK -- Almazbek Atambayev, the former Kyrgyz president, was detained in a major security operation Thursday (August 8), Kyrgyz media said, after clashes between his supporters and law enforcement left one dead and dozens injured.

Security forces arrested him at his compound near Bishkek, 24.kg and Kloop.kg reported.

Special forces Wednesday (August 7) failed to capture Atambayev during a raid that his supporters repulsed.

Atambayev was president from 2011 to 2017. He had defied summonses for questioning on allegations of corruption.

Mass unrest led to the overthrow of two Kyrgyz presidents, in 2005 and 2010. The 2010 ouster of Kurmanbek Bakiyev precipitated widespread inter-ethnic violence and to unsubstantiated government assertions that the majority of Kyrgyz citizens who later joined "Islamic State" (IS) came from the ethnic Uzbek minority.

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