JALAL-ABAD, Kyrgyzstan – Gunfire erupted in Kyrgyzstan when thousands of interim government supporters attempted to retake a regional government building occupied by backers of deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, injuring more than 30 people Friday, officials and witnesses said. The clashes broke out at the compound of the regional government headquarters in Jalal-Abad. Around 200 Bakiyev supporters, some with automatic rifles, holed up in the government building overnight after capturing it Thursday evening. Elsewhere, hundreds of people ejected a crowd that had occupied the regional government offices in Osh, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Jalal-Abad. Both cities are in Kyrgyzstan's south, the power base for Bakiyev, who was ousted April 7 amid clashes in the capital between government forces and protesters that left at least 85 people dead. The prospect of further disturbances in the Central Asian nation will cause alarm in Washington and Moscow, which both have military bases in Kyrgyzstan. In Jalal-Abad, about 4,000 backers of the Ata-Meken party that supports the interim government arrived to try to evict the occupiers, but many dispersed when gunfire broke out.
