ALMATY (TCA) — A “red” alert has been issued for Kazakhstan’s commercial capital, Almaty, after gunmen attacked a police station on July 18, killing at least three officers and wounding several others, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.
Police say they have apprehended one of at least two attackers, who were said to have struck at a police station and a facility of the Kazakh Committee for National Security.
An accomplice is said to remain at large, and officials are encouraging residents to remain indoors.
Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry said three policemen and one civilian were killed.
It is the second deadly attack in two months in Kazakhstan following a still largely unexplained rampage in the northwestern city of Aktobe that left dozens people dead.
The suspect detained on July 18 was said to be a 27-year-old resident of Kazakhstan’s south-central Kyzylorda Province, and authorities tied him to the murder of a local woman over the weekend.
The Kazakh government has ordered all military units to be out on high alert.
Kazakhstan was already on “yellow” alert after the June incident.
Neighboring Kyrgyzstan has increased security along its frontier with Kazakhstan, but the Kyrgyz State Border Service said there were no plans to close the border.
Kazakh authorities have warned about the potential threat the country faces from Islamic extremism.
