Kyrgyz officer dies after security forces storm ex-president's home

A Kyrgyz officer was killed Wednesday when special forces stormed the compound of former president Almazbek Atambayev, as mounting tensions with his successor Sooronbai Jeenbekov threaten to spark a political crisis in the fragile Central Asian state.

The officer died from a gunshot wound after Atambayev's supporters tried to prevent him being detained, the Kyrgyz health ministry said.

"A special forces officer was delivered (to hospital) in an extremely serious condition with a gunshot wound. Despite resuscitation attempts, he died," it said in a statement.

Atambayev, who ruled Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2017 before handing over to Jeenbekov, has increased security at his estate of Koi-Tash outside Bishkek in recent weeks, as tensions between him and Jeenbekov rise.

Clashes broke out there in the evening after Kyrgyzstan's national security committee (GKNB) said its special forces were undertaking a "special operation to detain former president Almazbek Atambayev."

The GKNB claimed that