State Committee for National Security (Kyrgyzstan)

Predecessors

The history of the modern Kyrgyz intelligence services dates back to December 1917, when the communist All-Russian Emergency Commission (VChK) was formed. A year later, on the Pishpek district investigation commission was established. After national delimitation occurred in the early 1920s, Regional State Political Directorate of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was created. Later on the Committee for State Security (KGB) of the Kyrgyz SSR was formed, which served as the republican affiliate for the national KGB agency.

Independent era

On 20 November 1991, President Askar Akayev signed a presidential decree establishing the UKMK. Since 2007 after the Tulip Revolution, the State Committee for National Security has been operating in its current form.^[4][5][6]

On February 6, 2007, the National Security Service became the State Committee for National Security.^[7]

In August 2002, the State Border Guard Service was established as a part of the UKMK, having been merged with the Main Border Guard Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and the Main Directorate of Border Control of the UKMK that day. This was done to have a more centralised intelligence system in Kyrgyzstan. In the years that followed, the UKMK would have little influence on the border guard service until it was finally removed from the National Security Committee on 4 September 2012, it was and was re-established as an independent department in the government.^[8]

Tashiev era

In May 2025, the State Committee for National Security announced a nationwide campaign titled Operation Illegal, scheduled to begin on 10 June 2025. The initiative was introduced amid a surge in foreign arrivals and growing concerns over undocumented migration. GKNB Chairman Kamchibek Tashiev reported that, since the beginning of the year, over 100,000 foreigners had entered Kyrgyzstan for tourism, education, work, or other purposes, with an estimated 5,000 residing in the country illegally. Tashiev highlighted that the country's simplified entry procedures were being misused, with some individuals overstaying visas or engaging in unauthorized employment. The operation, involving coordinated efforts with other law enforcement agencies, aims to identify and deport undocumented migrants through mass checks and raids. Authorities warned that foreign nationals must verify their legal status by the launch date or face removal, with the government allocating 280 million soms to support enforcement and deportation measures.^[9]

On 10 February 2026, President Sadyr Japarov signed an order on the establishment of the State Security Service on the basis of the 9th Service of the GKNB and the removal of the State Border Guard Service from the GKNB and its transfer to the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan.^[10][11] This was part of a broader shift in the GKNB following the removal of Tashiev as its chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers.^[12][13]

Political repression

Following his party's success in the 2010 Kyrgyz parliamentary election, on 23 October, the home of Kamchybek Tashiev was burglarized. He later stated to Al Jazeera that "they broke in like bandits" and "tried to eliminate me", adding that "for sure, GSNB [security services] was behind these actions."^[15] Tashiev later became Chairman of the UKMK.