At least 120 injured in post-vote clashes in Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK: At least 120 people were hospitalised with injuries in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek after clashes broke out between police and protesters over a disputed parliamentary election, health authorities said Monday.

Opposition supporters took to the streets and called for pro-Russian President Sooronbay Jeenbekov to resign after at least 10 political parties called for a re-run of Sunday's election after widespread claims of vote-buying.

Police in Bishkek used water cannon, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse some of the protesters when they attempted to force their way through the gates of the main seat of government.

Groups of demonstrators and police clashed into the night in the streets close to the square where the protest was held, an AFP correspondent said.

A Radio Free Europe live feed showed police throwing stun grenades as they struggled to peg back protesters who appeared to have set several bins on fire in one particularly fierce exchange.

The health ministry said in a statement that 120 people were injured during the violence, around half of whom were "representatives of law enforcement".

Several were in serious condition, the ministry said, stressing that there were no fatalities.

Jeenbekov's office said the president would meet Tuesday with leaders of all 16 parties that competed in the vote in a bid to defuse tensions.

Two of the parties that scored big wins in Sunday's poll are supportive of the president's reign -- and at the centre of the vote-buying allegations.

One of them, the Birimdik party that was leading the vote with around a quarter of ballots cast according to preliminary results, said late Monday that it was open to an election re-run.

Birimdik called on other parties that crossed the seven percent threshold necessary to enter parliament to do the same.

It was not clear whether all the parties planned to attend the meeting with Jeenbekov.

The Ata-Meken party, which fell short of the seven percent threshold, said its leader Janar Akayev sustained an injury to his leg from a rubber bullet.

Party member Elvira Surabaldiyeva told AFP that they had no role in the attempt on the government building, blaming iton "provocateurs".

"Our party will stand with the people to the end," she said.

Mobile phone and mobile internet connections were poor or non-existent for users of major operator Megacom throughout much of the night.

Eyewitnesses told AFP that shop owners in the vicinity of the protest had begun removing goods from their stores in anticipation of possible looting.

Looting was a feature in two popular uprisings that overthrew authoritarian presidents in 2005 and 2010, but the former Soviet country has enjoyed relative stability for the last decade.

Dissatisfaction with corruption and the domination of politics by powerful clans has increased with the economic challenges of the coronavirus fallout.

Around 5,000 people gathered earlier Monday in the main Ala-Too square to protest against the victory for pro-government parties that they said was enabled by massive violations.

Popular singers joined politicians in addressing the crowd, who responded with chants of "Jeenbekov out".

"The president promised to oversee honest elections. He didn't keep his word," one opposition candidate, Ryskeldi Mombekov, told the protesters, calling on election officials to cancel the vote "in the next 24 hours".

The preliminary count showed two pro-presidency parties, Birimdik and Mekenim Kyrgyzstan, who both favour deeper integration with Moscow, together taking around half of the vote.

Birimdik includes the president's younger brother Asylbek Jeenbekov, while Mekenim Kyrgyzstan is seen by critics as a vehicle for the interests of a powerful clan.

The clan's figurehead Rayimbek Matraimov is a former customs service official who was the target of anti-corruption protests last year.

The pro-presidential Kyrgyzstan party led by wealthy businessmen including a vodka magnate from the north of the country looked certain to enter parliament with around nine percent, according to both the preliminary count and the manual count.

Two other parties led by nationalist politicians were set to squeeze in with just over seven percent, according to the manual count, which takes precedence.

Moscow's dominant strategic position in Kyrgyzstan -- a landlocked country bordering China -- was not seen as being under threat regardless of the outcome of the vote.

Russia has a military base in the country and is a destination for hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz migrants.