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Kazakhstan: Taraz city attack kills seven | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A suspected Islamist militant has killed seven people in the city of Taraz in southern Kazakhstan - one of the worst attacks the country has seen. | |
The man shot dead four members of the security forces and two civilians before blowing himself up, killing another police officer, say officials. | |
The attack is the latest of several this year. | |
It is likely to raise concerns that the militant threat is growing in Kazakhstan. | |
The killings began when the attacker shot dead two members of the security forces who were following him, say prosecutors. | |
He then raided a gun shop, killing an employee and a passer-by, before hijacking a car and shooting dead two police officers who were chasing him, said a spokesman for the prosecutor- general's office. | |
As the police tried to disarm the man, he detonated explosives killing himself and one officer. | |
At least three other police were injured during the rampage. | |
The prosecutor's office described the 34-year old attacker as "a follower of jihadism," saying he was named Kariyev. | |
A criminal investigation has been ordered into the killings. | |
"We never thought that this kind of thing could happen here," a resident of Taraz told the Reuters news agency. | |
Recent attacks | |
The assault is highly unusual for Kazakhstan, but follows a handful of bomb attacks in recent months. | |
Two bombs were detonated in the western city of Atyrau in October, but only the bomber was killed. | |
A previously unknown Islamist militant group, Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate), said it was responsible for that attack. | A previously unknown Islamist militant group, Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate), said it was responsible for that attack. |
Two people were injured in May when a suicide bomber attacked a regional security building in the northern city of Aktobe. | |
At the time that attack was blamed on an organised crime group. | |
Until this year, oil-rich Kazakhstan had not experienced any of the militant activity seen in some of its Central Asia neighbours. | |
However, following recent activity blamed on militants, the government introduced a new law to try to tighten its control over radical religious groups. |