You're reading: Kazakhstan says it has thwarted bomb attacks

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Prosecutors in Kazakhstan say security services have thwarted a planned series of bombings in the Central Asian nation's commercial capital, Almaty.

The General Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement Wednesday that the attacks were to take place last weekend and were orchestrated by a close associate of a fugitive government opponent and exiled Kazakh businessman, Mukhtar Ablyazov.

Officials say the aim of the attacks was to sow panic and foment political unrest in the former Soviet nation. The statement said a member of the unregistered opposition party Alga was also involved in the plot.

Ablyazov is wanted in Kazakhstan on embezzlement charges. He was sentenced last month in London to 22 months in jail for contempt of court during an ongoing financial fraud trial. Ablyazov fled England before he could be taken into custody and his whereabouts are not known.