Tag Archives: security

Kyrgyz security forces foil bomb attacks

SEPT. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s National Security Service said it had defused two bombs in a shop in central Bishkek, preventing a terror attack. It didn’t say which group was allegedly behind the bombs. Kyrgyzstan is on high alert after a car bomb was driven through the gates of the Chinese embassy in Bishkek last month in a suicide attack later blamed on militant Uyghurs. The extremist group IS has also publicly stepped up its recruitment drive in Kyrgyzstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Border tension eases between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

SEPT. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Border tensions between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have eased since the beginning of the month when the Uzbek army seized a telecoms and radio tower in a disputed area, media reported. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan argue over ownership of the Kasan-Sai reservoir and the Ungar-Too mountain.

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(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Tajik government snoops its citizens

SEPT. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik government admitted for the first time that it had spied on some of some of its citizens by reading their emails and text message. At a conference on freedom of expression and counter- terrorism, a spokesperson from Tajikistan’s Prosecutor-General said that the authorities closely monitor internet messaging systems of certain individuals. Critics said this practice also targets opposition activists.

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(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Ex- Kyrgyz President accuses US

SEPT. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ex-Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev lodged accusations of drug smuggling against NATO forces that used the Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan for their mission in Afghanistan. US forces agreed to lease the Manas airbase in Dec. 2001 and left in June 2014.Mr Akayev served as president of Kyrgyzstan from 1990 to 2005, when he was unseated during a revolution.

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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Uyghurs in Kyrgyzstan worry about terrorist

BISHKEK, SEPT. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The sizable Uyghur community in Kyrgyzstan’s capital is increasingly worried by being labelled as terrorists after a suicide bomb against the Chinese Embassy this month.

Local state authorities described a suicide bomber as a member of the so-called Islamic Movement of Eastern Turkestan which wants independence for China’s eastern province of Xinjiang. Now local Uyghurs have said that they are worried about the impact the suicide bomb will have on relations with ordinary Kyrgyz.

“Honestly, I did not understand what the reason for this terror act was,” Malika, 23, a Uyghur working in a Bishkek market, told The Bulletin. “It’s bad that people think of Uyghurs as terrorists.”

There are more than 60,000 ethnic Uyghurs living in Kyrgyzstan, most working in trade and business. They are generally well regarded with a reputation for staying out of politics and producing good food. Many Uyghurs work in local bazaars where they sell fabrics from China.

There are also significant Uyghur communities in Kyrgyzstan’s east which borders China and in Kazakhstan.

The Chinese have blamed Uyghurs for a series of attacks in Xinjiang province over the past few years but this is the first attack against a Chinese target in Central Asia.

There have not previously been indicators that the Uyghur community in Central Asia was particularly militant and the suicide attacks appeared to have shocked and surprised them as much as they did the Kyrgyz authorities.

“Why? What is the reason for this attack? All my relatives are talking about it right now,” said Ikhtiyar, 22, with a note of exasperation.

“I do not think that attitudes to Uyghurs will be changed now. Right- minded people understand that terrorism does not have nationality.”

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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Court charges with espionage former Kyrgyz PM’s son

SEPT. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Bishkek sentenced Altynbek Muraliyev, son of former Kyrgyz PM Amangeldi Muraliyev, to 22 years in prison for treason and espionage, toughening its previous sentence of 12 years in prison. Muraliyev was arrested in November 2014, while attempting to flee Kyrgyzstan. The National Security Service said he had given classified information to foreign governments.

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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Pakistani police arrests Kazakhs

SEPT. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pakistan’s police arrested two Kazakhs for violating their visa conditions, as they had overstayed their permits after joining an Islamic school linked to Tablighi Jamaat. Tablighi Jamaat is banned in Kazakhstan and considered an extremist organisation. Tablighi Jamaat schools span India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Kyrgyz court jails IS recruitors

SEPT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kyrgyz court sentenced two women to six and seven years in prison after they tried to recruit another woman to join the IS extremist group in Syria. The prosecutor also said that the brother of one of the women was currently fighting in Syria. Kyrgyzstan and other countries in Central Asia are increasingly worried about a rise in IS recruitment in the region.

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(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Armenia’s PM resigns

SEPT. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hovik Abrahamyan resigned from his post as Armenian PM, saying that new leadership was needed to restore confidence in the government.

Local media outlets in Armenia have touted Karen Karapetyan, former mayor of Yerevan and Gazprom Armenia executive, as the potential new PM.

During his resignation speech, Mr Abrahamyan, PM since April 2014, said that Armenia needed new leadership to restore confidence.

“In order to improve the current economic and social situation, both the government and the people need to make joint efforts, and this requires new approaches and new principles,” he said.

Mr Abrahamyan may have been trying to deflect criticism from Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan. President since 2008, Mr Sargsyan’s popularity has fallen recently.

In July a group of gunmen calling for a new government captured a police station, triggering a two week standoff with security forces. Three policemen died during the capture of the police station and the subsequent standoff. Hundreds of protesters, supporting the gunmen clashed with police, during the standoff, highlighting the frustration with the government.

Armenia’s economy has flatlined and promised improvements in relations with neighbours have not materialised. In the summer of 2015, protesters clashed with police when the government tried to increase prices for electricity. In April, too, fighting broke out between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

IS promotes ex-Tajik police chief

SEPT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gulmurod Khalimov, the former head of Tajikistan’s special police force and a US-trained sniper, was named top commander in Iraq by the extremist IS group. Khalimov defected to the IS last year. In August, the US State Department placed a reward of up to $3m for information on the location of Khalimov.

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(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)