BISHKEK, January 23 (RIA Novosti) – Armed forces in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday killed an 11-man gang suspected of murdering a park ranger in a remote mountainous area near the Central Asian nation’s frontier with China, border officials said.
The State Border Service said the identity of the attackers was unknown, although some local media have speculated they may have entered the country from China.
One Kyrgyz border guard sustained a minor injury during the armed standoff, officials said.
The hunt for the gang lasted several hours and was sparked by the killing earlier Thursday of a park ranger, Alexander Barykin, in the locality of Ak-Shyirak in the southeastern Issyk-Kul province, around 40 kilometers from the Chinese border.
The group took refuge at a winter shelter after killing Barykin.
Two were killed during the course of fighting in the afternoon, while the remaining nine suspects were killed after they refused to surrender their weapons and opened fired on government troops, the border service said.
The State Border Service said investigators will now work on establishing the identity of the attackers.
Local media has speculated that the suspects might have been members of a Uyghur separatist group from China. Law enforcement officials have also been reported as telling media that the group may have been illegally hunting for rare animals.
The Marco Polo sheep, which is native to the mountains of Central Asia, is a particularly prized trophy for hunters and is classified as “near threatened” by conservationists.
