By Staff, Agencies

Opposition groups in Kyrgyzstan said they had seized power in the Central Asian country on Tuesday after taking control of government buildings in the capital during protests over a parliamentary election.

President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said the country, which hosts a Russian air base and a large Canadian-controlled gold mine, was facing an attempted coup d’etat. He ordered security forces not to open fire protesters however.

One person was killed and 590 wounded in unrest overnight, the government said. The opposition said it had freed Almazbek Atambayev, a former president jailed on corruption charges, and was already discussing the line-up of a provisional government.

It was not clear what role, if any, Atambayev would receive, and Jeenbekov, the sitting president, showed no immediate signs of relinquishing power, although the central election commission was reported to have annulled the results of the October 4 election.

Local news website 24.kg said the commission took the decision at a meeting held after the storming of the government headquarters.

Several opposition politicians urged the outgoing parliament to install a provisional cabinet in order to legitimize a transfer of power.