Kyrgyz police firing teargas stormed a government building and freed a regional governor taken hostage by protesters in a provincial town on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Riot police swooped on the center of the town of Talas after dark and used teargas to break up a crowd which had gathered in the central square to demand the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
Police then stormed the local government headquarters, seized earlier in the day by some of the protesters who held regional governor Beishen Bolotbekov hostage.
Some demonstrators retaliated by throwing stones at the police and shouting "Down with Bakiyev."
"They (protesters) had seized the government building, prepared Molotov cocktails and kept the governor hostage for a long time. ... Police have stormed the building," Kyrgyz Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiyev told reporters.
"He is now at a local police station," he said, adding that some police officers were injured in the operation.
Kyrgyzstan has been volatile since early March and the latest unrest in Talas is of particular concern to the United States, which uses a military air base in the country to support operations in nearby Afghanistan.
The opposition has urged Bakiyev to resign and threatened to hold more protests in the mountainous country of 5 million people if he fails to meet their demands such as cracking down on corruption and firing his relatives from senior positions.
Rioting broke out in Talas, a town in a picturesque valley on the Kyrgyz border with Kazakhstan, days after a visit by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who called on the government to do more to protect human rights.
The United Nations said Ban was concerned at events in Talas. "He calls on all concerned to show restraint and appeals for dialogue," it said in a statement.
Earlier, Bolot Sherniyazov, an opposition politician, told Reuters by telephone from inside the seized building that protesters were holding the governor hostage.
Outside, about 3,000 people had gathered, some burning pictures of Bakiyev. The crowd was largely dispersed by the police operation but about 500 people remained on the main square late Tuesday.
Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov, speaking to reporters in the capital Bishkek, said the government would use force to crack down on any further signs of unrest.
Some opposition activists said they feared a broader crackdown on the opposition movement would ensue as a result of the Talas disturbances.
Activist Toktoaim Umetaliyeva said the head of the opposition Ata-Meken party, Omurkbek Telebayev, was arrested in Bishkek late Tuesday.