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Hundreds sought to stage riots in Bishkek last night, say city police

According to the police, the rioters attempted to storm the parliamentary building, shopping centers and supermarkets, and even blocked roads

© Best available quality/video screen grab/Kaktus.media/TASS

BISHKEK, August 9./TASS/. About 1,500 people tried to orchestrate riots in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, during the wee hours of Friday, the city Directorate of Internal Affairs said in a report.

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Situation in Kyrgyz capital remains calm on Friday morning, Russian embassy assures

"Some 1,500 people tried to destabilize the socio-political situation," the report reads. According to the directorate, the rioters attempted to storm the parliamentary building, shopping centers and supermarkets, and even blocked roads.

"Municipal police used riot control weapons to thwart the attempts by belligerent individuals to destabilize the socio-political situation and prevent more potential mass riots," it continues.

Supporters of former President Almazbek Atambayev, detained in a special operation on August 8, were most likely behind the effort to stage widespread riots in Bishkek.

Atambayev was apprehended on Thursday in his residence in the village of Koi-Tash in a special operation that lasted for almost 24 hours. The raid to take the former leader into custody started on Wednesday, when Kyrgyz security agents undertook an initial attempt to detain Atambayev who is suspected of corruption and was stripped of immunity. Supporters of the former president, who repeatedly refuted the accusations against him, put up very fierce resistance. As a result, one special forces officer died in the operation. According to latest reports, 98 people have sought medical assistance.

Kyrgyzstan's President Sooronbay Jeenbekov said that Atambayev had violated the constitution by resorting to armed resistance against security officers.

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