Police arrest, kill radical Islamist gang, after attack on military base in Kazakhstan

5 Jun, 2016 12:09 / Updated 8 years ago

Police have killed four terrorists, and arrested seven more, as a manhunt continues outside the Kazakh city of Aktobe. Earlier the attackers raided two gun shops, hijacked a bus and attacked a military base, killing at least five people and wounding ten more.

"We are currently conducting an operation to neutralize the rest of the attackers, who remain at large" an interior ministry spokesman told local TV.

Early on Sunday, attackers, who numbered at least 16 according to CCTV footage, robbed two gun shops and then forcibly boarded a taxi bus, and used the stolen weapons to attack a nearby base of the national guard.

After being pushed back in a firefight, the men boarded another vehicle, and attempted to drive out of the city of 300,000.

Police blockaded the roads, and there were media reports that armored vehicles were brought into the city. Firefights continued into the night.

The ministry said that the attackers were “followers of non-traditional religious sects,” a term used to describe radical Islamists.

The police shut down shopping malls in the area, and internet access was restricted.