UPDATE 2-Kyrgyz security forces storm ex-president's house

Fighting raged outside the home of former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev on Wednesday, as elite security forces stormed the property and his supporters gathered en masse to prevent him from being arrested on corruption charges.

Parliament accused Atambayev of corruption and stripped him of immunity from prosecution in June after he fell out with current president Sooronbai Jeenbekov, a former protege who was publicly endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in July. The Kyrgyz State Committee on National Security said its special forces unit was carrying out an operation to detain Atambayev. A former Soviet republic, the country is closely allied with Moscow.

The security committee said its unit used rubber bullets. Atambayev-controlled television station April broadcast footage in which gunshots could be heard and showing armed men wearing camouflage and bulletproof vests, and fire surrounding the building. News websites 24.kg and Akipress.kg said armed security forces were seen entering the home in Koi Tash, a village near the capital Bishkek. while a helicopter flew overhead. They cited witnesses saying wounded people left the house.

There was no immediate official comment on whether Atambayev had been arrested or if he was among the wounded. But April's correspondent at the site said Atambayev's supporters were overpowering security forces, while independent news website kloop.kg showed footage of them celebrating as they led disarmed security men out of the property.

Since Atambayev lost his immunity, police have repeatedly asked him to come in for questioning, which he has refused to do, dismissing the requests as illegal. The politically volatile Central Asian nation hosts a Russian military airbase. Atambayev met Putin in Moscow in late July, but in a statement afterwards the Russian president expressed support for Jeenbekov.

Jeenbekov's office said late on Wednesday he was urgently returning to Bishkek, having cut short a vacation.

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