Belarus blocks news site after deaths of dissident, KGB

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Wednesday blocked access to another news site, the latest in a series of steps restricting independent media in the country after it was shaken by a wave of mass anti-government protests.

The Belarusian Ministry of Information blocked access to the Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus website, the Belarusian subsidiary of a popular Russian newspaper of the same name. The ministry didn't provide any reasons for the decision to block the popular website, which is visited by some 20,000 users daily.

The access to it was restricted several hours after it ran a story about an alleged shootout in an apartment in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, during which two people — an opposition supporter and a KGB officer — were killed. The news outlet published a comment from the opposition supporter's friend, who described him a positive light.

Belarusian authorities reported the incident on Tuesday night, alleging that “an especially dangerous criminal” opened fire on security officers after they showed up at his apartment looking for “individuals involved in terrorist activities.” Authorities said one of the KGB officers was killed and the perpetrator was killed by "retaliatory fire."

Footage aired by Belarusian state TV channels showed men in plainclothes, trying to break into an apartment.

The authorities haven't revealed the name of the man that allegedly shot at the security officers, but said his wife, who was in the apartment at the time, was arrested. State news agency Belta reported that “members of an extremist group with ties to the opposition, supposedly, lived in the apartment.”

Belarus' authorities often referred to protesters at anti-government demonstrations last year as “extremists” and “terrorists.” The huge protests came...