Kazakhstan calls security council meeting after suspected Islamist shootings

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2016 (SPIEF 2016) in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 17, 2016. REUTERS/Artyom Korotayev/TASS/Host Photo Agency/Pool/Files

ALMATY (Reuters) - Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, convened an emergency meeting of the Central Asian nation's Security Council on Monday, his office said, after gunmen attacked police and security forces in Almaty, killing four people. The attacks in the former Soviet republic's biggest city followed deadly clashes between Islamist militants and security forces in the city of Aktobe in June and a foiled plot in another province, also blamed on followers of radical Islam. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov/Mariya Gordeyeva; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)