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-News: Armed ethnic clashes rage in Kyrgyzstan
15 years ago
(CNN) -- Armed groups are fighting each other for control of the main hospital in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan, Russia Today reported, as ethnic clashes continue in the strategically important central Asian country.
At least 80 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured since Thursday, Kyrgyz and Russian news agencies reported, citing health ministry officials.
According to one report, the numbers were much higher. Local officials in Osh, the city worst affected by the violence, said at least 500 ethnic Uzbeks had been killed, according to Ferghana.ru, an independent news agency. CNN has not independently confirmed the number of dead.
The violence pits ethnic Kyrgyz against Uzbeks, and comes in the wake of the overthrow of the country's government in April. An interim government is in place in the capital Bishkek.
Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks, mostly women, children and elderly people, have fled towards Uzbekistan, Amnesty International said Saturday.
The interim government on Saturday worked to quell the upsurge of violence, imposing states of emergency in Osh, where fighting between ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz youths led to mass rioting, and in Jalal-Abad in order to keep the unrest from spreading there, it said.
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But the measures seemed to be doing little to calm the situation Sunday. Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg reported that as many as 5,000 youths were gathering in the center of Jalal-Abad early Sunday, demanding transportation to Osh. The news agency reported that the situation in the city "is very strained" with police patrolling the streets and special forces standing guard.
Kyrgyzstan map Kyrgyzstan hosts a U.S. military transport base that is vital for supplying its troops in Afghanistan. It also has a Russian military base and strategically important natural gas pipelines.
The official Russian TV network Russia Today reported that the interim government has given police permission to shoot to kill rioters on the streets.
Members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- comprised of Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan -- are set to meet Monday to discuss the crisis, official Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
Kyrgyz and Russian news agencies said 72 people were killed in Osh and 8 in Jalal-Abad.
Amateur video obtained by CNN appears to show dozens of bloodied bodies lined up along a street in Osh as bystanders rush to cover them. The corpses all appear to be men, and one appears to be charred.
Witnesses said the toll is more likely to be in the thousands.
The violence led Uzbekistan to close its border with Kyrgyzstan, according to the deputy chairman of the Kyrgyz border service, 24.kg reported.
But Russia Today reported that the border remained open for fleeing refugees and RIA-Novosti reported that more than 700 people crossed into Uzbekistan on Saturday.
Extra army and police units were dispatched and a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew has been imposed in several districts of southern Kyrgyzstan until June 20, the government said.
The Kyrgyz interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, has asked for Russian peacekeepers to help end the unrest, the result of interethnic tensions that have been brewing for weeks.
Otunbayeva, in quotes passed along by the interim government spokesman, said Saturday that the situation has gotten "out of control" and "we need outside military forces to solve the situation."
But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman said humanitarian aid, not troops, is being rushed to the area at present, the Kremlin said.
"This is an internal conflict and Russia does not yet see the conditions for its participating in resolving it," spokeswoman Natalya Timakhova said.
Timakhova said the president intends to evacuate the injured.
A Russian cargo plane carrying six injured Kyrgyz citizens landed in Moscow on Sunday, according to RIA-Novosti. The plane arrived in Bishkek on Saturday to deliver humanitarian aid, the news agency reported, adding that food and medical supply shortages are becoming an issue.
Otunbayeva on Saturday discussed the unrest in a phone call with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Moscow police have reinforced the security near the Kyrgyz and Uzbek embassies.
Rioters have set fire to a number of businesses and government buildings in Osh, and there was looting and widespread vandalism, Kyrgyz officials said.
The nation's top health official, Dinara Sagynbayeva, said on Friday about "half of those killed and injured have bullet wounds and the other half have injuries apparently made by some hard objects such as clubs, metal rods and rocks" in Osh, the country's second-largest city.
The United States is monitoring developments and is calling for a "rapid restoration of peace and public order in the city of Osh and elsewhere where it appears ethnic violence is occurring," according to a statement released Saturday by the State Department.
"The United States encourages American citizens in the Kyrgyz Republic to be in contact with the U.S. Embassy and be aware of the Embassy's warden messages to ensure their safety in these turbulent times," the statement said.
At least 80 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured since Thursday, Kyrgyz and Russian news agencies reported, citing health ministry officials.
According to one report, the numbers were much higher. Local officials in Osh, the city worst affected by the violence, said at least 500 ethnic Uzbeks had been killed, according to Ferghana.ru, an independent news agency. CNN has not independently confirmed the number of dead.
The violence pits ethnic Kyrgyz against Uzbeks, and comes in the wake of the overthrow of the country's government in April. An interim government is in place in the capital Bishkek.
Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks, mostly women, children and elderly people, have fled towards Uzbekistan, Amnesty International said Saturday.
The interim government on Saturday worked to quell the upsurge of violence, imposing states of emergency in Osh, where fighting between ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz youths led to mass rioting, and in Jalal-Abad in order to keep the unrest from spreading there, it said.
Are you there? Send photos, videos
But the measures seemed to be doing little to calm the situation Sunday. Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg reported that as many as 5,000 youths were gathering in the center of Jalal-Abad early Sunday, demanding transportation to Osh. The news agency reported that the situation in the city "is very strained" with police patrolling the streets and special forces standing guard.
Kyrgyzstan map Kyrgyzstan hosts a U.S. military transport base that is vital for supplying its troops in Afghanistan. It also has a Russian military base and strategically important natural gas pipelines.
The official Russian TV network Russia Today reported that the interim government has given police permission to shoot to kill rioters on the streets.
Members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- comprised of Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan -- are set to meet Monday to discuss the crisis, official Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
Kyrgyz and Russian news agencies said 72 people were killed in Osh and 8 in Jalal-Abad.
Amateur video obtained by CNN appears to show dozens of bloodied bodies lined up along a street in Osh as bystanders rush to cover them. The corpses all appear to be men, and one appears to be charred.
Witnesses said the toll is more likely to be in the thousands.
The violence led Uzbekistan to close its border with Kyrgyzstan, according to the deputy chairman of the Kyrgyz border service, 24.kg reported.
But Russia Today reported that the border remained open for fleeing refugees and RIA-Novosti reported that more than 700 people crossed into Uzbekistan on Saturday.
Extra army and police units were dispatched and a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew has been imposed in several districts of southern Kyrgyzstan until June 20, the government said.
The Kyrgyz interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, has asked for Russian peacekeepers to help end the unrest, the result of interethnic tensions that have been brewing for weeks.
Otunbayeva, in quotes passed along by the interim government spokesman, said Saturday that the situation has gotten "out of control" and "we need outside military forces to solve the situation."
But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman said humanitarian aid, not troops, is being rushed to the area at present, the Kremlin said.
"This is an internal conflict and Russia does not yet see the conditions for its participating in resolving it," spokeswoman Natalya Timakhova said.
Timakhova said the president intends to evacuate the injured.
A Russian cargo plane carrying six injured Kyrgyz citizens landed in Moscow on Sunday, according to RIA-Novosti. The plane arrived in Bishkek on Saturday to deliver humanitarian aid, the news agency reported, adding that food and medical supply shortages are becoming an issue.
Otunbayeva on Saturday discussed the unrest in a phone call with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Moscow police have reinforced the security near the Kyrgyz and Uzbek embassies.
Rioters have set fire to a number of businesses and government buildings in Osh, and there was looting and widespread vandalism, Kyrgyz officials said.
The nation's top health official, Dinara Sagynbayeva, said on Friday about "half of those killed and injured have bullet wounds and the other half have injuries apparently made by some hard objects such as clubs, metal rods and rocks" in Osh, the country's second-largest city.
The United States is monitoring developments and is calling for a "rapid restoration of peace and public order in the city of Osh and elsewhere where it appears ethnic violence is occurring," according to a statement released Saturday by the State Department.
"The United States encourages American citizens in the Kyrgyz Republic to be in contact with the U.S. Embassy and be aware of the Embassy's warden messages to ensure their safety in these turbulent times," the statement said.
