An explosive start to the day
Today has been a busy day.
Before it had really go underway, I got a phone call from the hotel asking if I had heard, or felt, the explosion.
“Uhhh, No – what explosion?”
Now the hotel is about three blocks from the office, and it appears that there had been an explosion outside the Sports Palace, which is much closer to the hotel than it is to us. They had felt it. ”It was load and felt like an earthquake. It it hadn’t been for the noise, we’d have thought it was an earthquake.”
So, I dropped everything and went to have a look.
The streets were quite crowded – but it was the morning rush hour so, I suppose, that was to be expected. Everyone was going about their own business, so it looked as if the news had not spread, yet. I did see two groups of people who obviously were in the know as they were standing back and watching.
The police had swung into action immediately, sealing off the area, much to the annoyance of the drivers who wanted to drive along the road that was now closed. There was a fair amount of baton waiving and whistle blowing, and the drivers got the message and swung around to try and find a different route.
As I walked past the park at the back of the Sports Palace there were crowds of soldiers standing around waiting for orders.
Everything in the hotel was quiet, although it is easy to understand that there was only one major topic of conversation. Not entirely, however, as one guest was having a problem calling the States.
We reviewed our own security measures and discussed how to react given possible turns of events. Eventually, I made my way back to the office and returned to work in hand.
In a way, the explosion shouldn’t have come as a surprise. There had been some “warning signs” – but as is the nature of such events, you may be aware of the possibility, but as you never know when and where they will be realised, they always do end up surprising you.
Amongst the “warning signs” was the release of recordings of telephone conversations, allegedly between Maxim Bakiev and his uncle Janysh, when they supposedly planning further disturbances over the Summer. Some disturbances duly happened, riots in Djalal Abad and Osh which cost “countless” lives, and there were suggestions that it wasn’t just the Bakiev clan behind the events – but that the criminal underworld and even militant Islamic revolutionaries with connections to Afghanistan were involved. There was nothing, however, to suggest that that was all that the plotters had in mind. On the contrary during the election campaign just over a month ago, there was evidence of further “mischief” underway in an attempt to influence the results.
Then, there was the fact that the Sports Palace is being used to house a highly controversial court hearing into the events of April 7th, when almost 80 people were killed outside the White House in the Easter Revolution. There have been protests in and around the building throughout the hearings. Emotions are running high on both sides.
Perhaps the most telling moment came last week when a number of “terrorists” were arrested – some, apparently, in Bishkek and others in Osh. With them was discovered a quantity of TNT high explosive, including, so it appears, a number of home made bombs with mobile phones rigged up to act as detonators. There were no official announcements of the arrests although the Security services went into a heightened state of alert, and Roza Otunbaeva cancelled a trip to the South. Once, however, the news broke on a Russian wire service, we were informed, and the authorities tried to assure us that they had prevented a series of outrages from happening. And, indeed, maybe they had … certainly, it seems from what news they have been prepared to release following the initial interrogations, they have gathered considerable evidence and intelligence about the group and their proposed activities.
Perhaps it was as a result of that intelligence that further “special operations” were undertaken which resulted in a “shoot out” in Osh – resulting in four dead, (with one person dying in an explosion), and the arrest of further suspects.
If the authorities thought they had got the whole “gang”, then they were obviously mistaken. This explosion seems to have been a sign that some, at least, are still at large.
The bomb, apparently containing about 3kg of explosive according to one news report, was placed in a sewerage pipe, underneath a manhole cover. It blew the manhole cover off – some distance into the air, broke some windows in the Sports Palace and ripped up part of the road surface. There were some injuries, but nobody, fortunately was killed.
Although there is some suggestion that it might have been an attempt either to disrupt the court proceedings, or even to target those involved, I am not sure that’s the case. The bomb was underground and any force from the explosion would have been dissipated. So, it seems to me that it could just as easily have been a sign. ”You haven’t got us all!”
There are, of course, other possible interpretations – the versions being offered by different branches of the authorities and security services are at variance with one another … one suggesting it was organized by Nationalist Separatists, another that it was organized by members of one of the various Central Asian terrorist groups – such as the IMU, (Islamic Movement for Uzbekistan), and yet others seem to blame elements that want to promote and maintain a sense of instability in the country – both the Bakiev’s and the criminal underworld have been mentioned – as well as “foreign partners” – which I think may be a veiled reference to our neighbours who are enamoured with the parliamentary system of government that Kyrgyzstan has adopted. There have also been suggestions that it is linked with the planned forthcoming visit of Hilary Clinton following the Astana summit.
The police were obviously concerned that there might be more devices – but as time passed and there were further incidents, it became clear that this was an isolated case.
Now the authorities are warning people to be on their guard, to look out for unattended packages and people loitering, to avoid crowded places and to report anything suspicious. Although they haven’t imposed a curfew, they are recommending that people don’t go out late at night or early morning.
As it happens, this is not new to me.
I keep saying to people that I lived through thirty years of bombing campaigns other actions as the situation in Ulster fluctuated from the 1960’s though to the nineties. I remember going to Belfast for a course and being taken aback at the sight of the fortified checkposts and armed police.
Indeed, as the news of the original arrests broke , on Friday night, I called the kids together and warned them of what the news might mean. Andrei has just told me that he has just watched the news and the authorities are saying exactly what I said to them on Friday. He asked if there was a chance that the school might close as a result of the events – and I tried to reassure him that, although it’s possible, it’s not likely. I remember having to close the school in London because we had received a telephone “Bomb threat” – but that was specifically addressed to the school We searched the school and didn’t find anything – perhaps someone was trying to avoid an exam that morning – who knows?
Of course, the news is full of the events … I’ve seen some coverage in the Western media on the internet – but not much … perhaps the Western Press is not interested, because it’s Kyrgyzstan, or because the damage was slight and no-one died, or because there are too many such incidents around the world – and, anyway, there were other stories to cover.
In fact, during the afternoon I did get a call from a reporter from a British newspaper … and as he introduced himself, I braced myself for some questions about the morning’s incidents … but no, he wasn’t interested in a bomb explosion … what he wanted to talk about was Wikileaks … but that’s another story … and another postcard.
Bishkek