Armed men open fire to pedestrians in Almaty of Kazakhstan, killing 1 soldier

Police officers stand guard at a scene of shooting on the street in Almaty, Kazakhstan, July 18, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

A lone gunman killed at least three policemen and two civilians in Kazakhstan's financial capital Almaty on Monday, senior security officials said, the second such attack in less than two months.

Police detained the attacker, identified as 26-year-old Ruslan Kulikbayev, in a shootout on a busy central street after he had gone on the rampage, attacking a police station and an office belonging to the KNB security service.

The gunman seized the automatic weapon of the policeman and tried to flee. He shot four policemen with the stolen weapon during the escape attempt, and was later wounded and subdued.

"The offender tried to grab a car from a local resident of the city during the flee. As a result the driver was wounded and died. Three police officers died from serious wounds," the statement said.

Kulikbayev had been imprisoned before for robbery and illegally possessing weapons and had "became close to Salafists" in prison, KNB security service head Vladimir Zhumakanov told a Security Council meeting.