Kyrgyzstan security officials thwart coup plot

An attempt to violently seize power has been foiled in Kyrgyzstan, the State National Security Committee said in a statement on Friday, TASS reported.

“The State National Security Committee and the Interior Ministry have exposed a criminal group plotting to violently seize power in the country,” the statement reads.

According to the committee, “solid evidence has been received proving the criminal activities of a group of people led by certain destructive political forces, including members of the Jogorku Kenesh (Supreme Council) and former high-ranking officials.”

The suspects, whose names haven’t been made public yet, planned to organize mass protests in the country’s capital of Bishkek after the announcement of the outcome of the upcoming parliamentary election, triggering clashes with law enforcement officers. The State National Security Committee pointed out that the suspects intended to engage about 1,000 “aggressive young men” in the activity.

“In order to prevent the group’s criminal activity, on November 26, investigators from the State National Security Committee and the Interior Ministry conducted searches of the homes of the group’s members and their rented office, seizing firearms, ammunition and drugs, apart from documents proving that they were getting ready to comm