JAN. 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Since 2009 the Kyrgyz security forces have reported a rise in the number of gun battles they have fought with suspected Islamic extremists.

These shootouts and bomb attacks had mainly been confined to Kyrgyzstan’s poorer south.

But the gun attack that killed three policemen in Bishkek on Jan. 4 appears to add to recent insurgent attacks in the Kyrgyz capital which hosts a major US airbase and is only a few hours drive from Almaty in Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s financial centre. Certainly, the authorities were quick to blame Islamic extremists for the attack.

And the shootout follows two earlier attacks in Bishkek — a failed car bomb outside police headquarters on Dec. 25 and a bomb that exploded in the centre of the city on Nov. 30 and injured several people, days before the arrival of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Kyrgyz authorities often blame the attacks on the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) which has close links with al-Qaeda. The initial NATO surge into Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002 heavily damaged the IMU but over the last couple of years it has grown in strength.

The IMU and other Islamic radical groups have increased attacks in Central Asia over the last couple of years mainly attacking security forces in Tajikistan and southern Kyrgyzstan.

With the latest attacks in Bishkek this violence appears to be creeping towards the heart of Central Asia.

JAN. 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gunmen killed three policemen during a routine document inspection in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. The security forces blamed Islamic extremists for the attack and the following day tracked down suspected gunmen to a house outside Bishkek. Two rebels and another policeman died in a gunfight at the house.

DEC. 25 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Kyrgyzstan said they had foiled a car bomb outside Bishkek’s police headquarters. Media quoted the head of the National Security Committee saying that nine Kyrgyz citizens, described as militant Islamists, had been detained in connection with the foiled bomb attack.