Kyrgyzstan foiled 2 Daesh attacks

Kyrgyzstan's security police said on Friday they had prevented two major attacks by Daesh militants, Al Arabiya reported.

It is the first time authorities in former Soviet Central Asia have reported armed clashes with militants of the ultra-hardline jihadist group, which is based in Iraq and Syria.

"They had planned two terrorist attacks - one in the central square (of Bishkek) during today's prayers ending the month of Ramadan, and another one at the (Russian) airbase in Kant."

The group was led by Zhanbolat Amirov, a national of neighboring Kazakhstan wanted by police after his escape from a Kyrgyz prison, the security police said in a separate statement. Amirov was killed during the operation, the spokesman said.

A day after security forces killed six gunmen in two firefights in the capital Bishkek, the police identified them as Daesh members and said seven others had been captured in a mopping-up operation.

Police said on Thursday that four attackers had been killed and four security service members wounded in central Bishkek, and two more attackers were killed at around the same time in the suburbs.