BISHKEK: At least 16 people were injured on Monday after a protest in Kyrgyzstan dissolved into clashes with police in the capital Bishkek following a disputed parliamentary election, the health ministry said.

The injured were receiving treatment in Bishkek hospitals, said the ministry, while an opposition leader, Janar Akayev, was injured in the clashes, his party Ata-Meken said.

Kyrgyz police used teargas and water cannon to disperse thousands of people demonstrating on Monday against the result of a parliamentary election, after some protesters tried to break into the government headquarters.

Gunshots and stun grenades could be heard as riot police with dogs, backed by several vehicles, moved into the central square in the capital Bishkek and the protesters retreated.

Two establishment parties supporting closer links between the former Soviet republic and Russia look set to dominate the new parliament after Sunday’s election, which Western observers said had been marred by vote buying.

Supporters of several parties that failed to win any seats, according to preliminary results, had rallied in the central square to denounce the vote as fraudulent. They said more people were heading to Bishkek to join the protests.

Some of them then tried to break the gates leading to a building housing both the president and parliament, which overlooks the square, at which point the police started dispersing the rally.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2020