Kyrgyzstan’s former President Almazbek Atambayev, detained on August 8, had plotted to carry out a coup, Head of the country’s State National Security Committee Orozbek Opumbayev said at a press conference on Tuesday, August 13, TASS reports.

"Atambayev planned to carry out a coup in the country," he said.

According to Opumbayev, the ex-president used women and children as a human shield during a special operation to detain him as he intended to take advantage of media reports about civilian casualties in his attempts to overthrow the authorities.