TheState Committee for National Security (SCNS-KR)[a] is the national agency responsible for intelligence on counter terrorism and organised crime in Kyrgyzstan. In carrying out this task, it carries out both preventive and investigative measures against organized terrorism and crime. The chairman of the UKMK is a military officer and a member of theSecurity Council of Kyrgyzstan.[2] It is currently based on 70 Erkindik Street,Bishkek.[3]
The history of the modern Kyrgyz intelligence services dates back to December 1917, when the communistAll-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, RegionalState Political Directorate of theKara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was created. Later on theCommittee for State Security (KGB) of the Kyrgyz SSR was formed, which served as the republican affiliate for the nationalKGB agency. On 20 November 1991, PresidentAskar Akayev signed a presidential decree establishing the UKMK. Since 2007 after theTulip Revolution, the State Committee for National Security has been operating in its current form.[4][5][6]
In August 2002, theState Border Guard Service was established as a part of the UKMK, having been merged with the Main Border Guard Directorate of theMinistry 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.[7]
In May 2025, the State Committee for National Security announced a nationwide campaign titledOperation 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 ChairmanKamchibek 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 deportundocumented 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 millionsoms to support enforcement and deportation measures.[8]
The UKMK controls the Alpha anti-terrorist unit, which like all former Soviet countries refers to a top-secretspecial forces unit. The unit helps deliver on the tasks listed above. In August 2010, fighters of the unit went on strike in protest against the arrest of their former chief Almaz Dzholdoshaliyev. They appealed to PresidentRoza Otunbayeva with a demand to change the measure of restraint for the detained UKMK officers. In response, the Prosecutor General's Office opened criminal cases against nine employees of the unit, accusing them of shooting at demonstrators during theKyrgyz Revolution of 2010.[9]
Following his party's success in the2010 Kyrgyz parliamentary election, on 23 October, the home ofKamchybek Tashiev was burglarized. He later stated toAl Jazeera that "they broke in like bandits" and "tried to eliminate me", adding that "for sure, GSNB [security services] was behind these actions."[10] Tashiev later became Chairman of the UKMK.
^Russian:Государственный комитет национальной безопасности (ГКНБ),romanized: Gosudarstvennyy komitet natsionalnoy bezopasnosti (GKNB);Kyrgyz:Улуттук коопсуздук боюнча мамлекеттик комитети (УKMK),romanized: Uluttuk koopsuzduk boiuncha mamlekettik komiteti (UKMK)
^"Кто он – глава ГКНБ Орозбек Опумбаев?".Радио Азаттык (Кыргызская служба Радио Свободная Европа/Радио Свобода) (in Russian). 14 August 2019. Retrieved2021-05-01.
Russia –Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
United States –National Security Agency andFederal Bureau of Investigation
Israel –Shin Bet
Ukraine –Security Service of Ukraine
Belarus –State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus
Kazakhstan –National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan
France –General Directorate for Internal Security andDirectorate-General for External Security