Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek Consumed by Violence Amid Power Vacuum

Police fire tear gas at protesters in Bishkek. (Photo: David Trilling)

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Slideshow: Protesters Clash with Security Police in Bishkek

At about 8:10 pm, central Bishkek was rocked by thundering explosions. Shortly before the blasts began, witnesses saw a tank taking aim at the Executive Office Building, known locally as the White House.

Mobs were stripping stores of goods, according to eyewitness accounts. Some protesters were also reportedly hauling away computers and other equipment from government offices. The capital began experiencing power outages during the night.

Unrest was also reported in several provincial capitals, including Talas, Naryn and Chuy. It was the second day of violence in Talas, which saw a back-and-forth battle between protesters and security forces on April 6. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Protesters in Talas reportedly seized Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongatiyev, who had traveled to the regional center to oversee the security crackdown there, and beat him to the point of death. In Naryn, long a stronghold of anti-government sentiment, a crowd of 5,000 was said to have seized control of the provincial administration offices.

Mass media outlets, including state-television, along with Russian-language channels, were unavailable as darkness fell in the capital. Internet access was likewise sporadic, creating an information vacuum inside the country.

The whereabouts of President Bakiyev as of the evening of April 7 could not be verified. Some rumors circulating in the city suggested that he had taken refuge at the US air base at Manas, outside of Bishkek. Other reports claimed that he had fled the country. Opposition leaders, including Omurbek Tekebayev and Almazbek Atambayev, were reportedly released after being taken into custody on April 6.

Earlier in the day, Bakiyev declared a state of emergency following initial clashes between police and protesters outside the government headquarters. During the afternoon, demonstrators drove two trucks into the White House gates. They caught fire as Ministry of Interior forces stationed within the compound shot at the vehicles with what appeared to be live ammunition, a EurasiaNet.org correspondent witnessed.

The bodies of four protestors were brought to the National Craniological Hospital in central Bishkek, said a witness. "There are trails of blood everywhere between the White House and the hospital," he said.

Ferghana.ru estimated the number of protesters at 10,000 in the late afternoon, though they appear scattered throughout the capital. Shops within range of the White House appeared to be doing a brisk business selling food on the afternoon of April 7; other preparations for future tumult were also witnessed -- license plates on two government cars were spotted being changed on a street in downtown Bishkek by one EurasiaNet.org correspondent.

Hundreds of opposition protesters in Bishkek earlier on April 7 took over two police armored vehicles with assorted weapons after the arrest of additional opposition demonstrators.

Special forces, taking up refuge in a nearby building, others badly beaten, lost control over the demonstrators, who seized weapons from fleeing police, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and AK-47 rifles.

The violence in Bishkek began after police began arresting a peaceful group of protesters outside the opposition Social Democratic Party headquarters on the morning of April 7, the EurasiaNet.org correspondent reported.

The arrests started after the departure of German Ambassador Holger Green and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission head Ambassador Andrew Tesoriere from the scene. A representative of the US embassy also left immediately before riot police began arresting demonstrators.