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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Uzbek riots as suspected bomber shot |
| 2005-05-13 |
| ISN SECURITY WATCH (13/05/05) - Uzbek authorities shot and killed a suspected suicide bomber outside the Israeli embassy in Tashkent on Friday morning, while at least nine people were killed in riots in the eastern city of Andijan. Israeli and US officials told reporters that a suicide attack by radical Islamic insurgents had been averted in the capital city when Uzbek authorities shot the suspected would-be attacker before he could detonate his bomb. At the same time, gun battles, explosions and a prison break have claimed the lives of at least nine people in Andijan, news agencies reported. Some reports said that thousands of people, led by armed insurgents, stormed the city's central prison after insurgents ambushed prison guards and opened the gates, freeing some 2,000 prisoners. The rioters were seeking to free 23 prisoners charged with anti-constitutional activity and forming a criminal and extremist organization, in a case that rights activists say is part of a broad government crackdown on religious dissent. All of the defendants pleaded not guilty at their trial, which opened on 10 February. There were armed clashes between insurgents and Uzbek soldiers after the prison attack, with Russian media reporting that at least nine people had been killed and 34 others wounded. Reports later on Friday morning said Uzbek President Islam Karimov had arrived in Andijan to assess the situation. While new agencies reported ongoing clashes and said several buildings were ablaze, Russian Interfax described the situation as "under control", citing Uzbek authorities. Located near the border with Kyrgyzstan, the eastern Uzbek region has been the scene of growing unrest lately. In Tashkent, tensions were high after reports emerged that the suspected suicide bomber had only been carrying wooden objects that the Uzbek police had mistaken for explosives, the daily Israeli Ha'aretz reported. In a conversation with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, the Israeli ambassador in Tashkent confirmed that the man might not have been a suicide bomber, the daily reported, adding that the clothing of the suspected bomber had aroused the suspicion of the embassy guards, who had ordered the man to halt. When the man failed to halt, guards shot him in the leg, and when he continued to approach the embassy, he was shot fatally. The incident is still being investigated. In late July 2004, a series of simultaneous bombings in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent hit the US and Israeli embassies as well as the state prosecutor's office, killing two people and injuring five others. The attacks came during the trial in Tashkent of 15 defendants accused of complicity in attacks earlier last year, when almost 50 people were killed. Karimov, a close ally of the US who allowed US forces into the country after the 11 September 2001 attacks, is accused by human rights groups of torturing critics and repressing the political opposition in his country under the guise of fighting "terrorism". |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 I think the suicide bomber has been refuted by later reports. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-05-13 09:50 |