Foreign Correspondence

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Dozens dead in Kyrgyzstan clashes
June 12, 2010

Note: Kryrgystan has both Russian and United States military bases.

Robin Forestier-Walker reports from southern city of Osh on violence between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8NwzVISHRk

At least 49 people have been killed and more than 600 others wounded
in an outbreak of violence in the southern Kyrgyzstan city of Osh.

The country's health ministry announced the updated death toll on Saturday,
a day after the government imposed a state of emergency in the region.

Several buildings across Osh were ablaze, according to witnesses, in the wake of shooting that began on Thursday night.

"Clashes and exchanges of fire between groups of youths took place in Osh and the neighbouring
districts of Karassu, Arava and Uzgen," Farid Niyazov, a government spokesman, said.

"A state of emergency has been declared in Osh and these districts from June 11 until June 20."

Witnesses said fighting broke out between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups in Osh, a strong-
hold of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the president who was overthrown by a popular revolt in April.

Uzbek exodus

A health ministry spokeswoman said that different injuries, including bullet wounds, had been reported.

"About a thousand youths armed with batons and stones gathered Thursday
evening in the centre of Osh," Azamat Ussmanov, a resident of Osh, said.

"They broke shop windows and the windows of residential buildings, burned cars. Several fires also broke out in the town."

IN DEPTH
Profile: Roza Otunbayeva .. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/04/201048102529639548.html
Interview: Kurmanbek Bakiyev .. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/04/201041214738795378.html
Inside Story:
Russia's growing influence .. http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2010/04/2010413134844264850.html
Behind Kyrgyzstan's unrest .. http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2010/04/20104815572872371.html

Videos:
Calm eludes post-revolt Kyrgyzstan .. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/04/2010427143946684158.html
Ousted Kyrgyz leader seeks UN help .. http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia/2010/04/2010412204022654580.html

Al Jazeera's Robin Forestier-Walker, speaking from outside the city of Osh, said thousands of ethnic Uzbeks,
mostly women and children, are fleeing their homes on Saturday, in an attempt to cross the border into Uzbekistan.

"Behind them, I can see the city of Osh with a huge [plume] of smoke above it. In front of us, we have
the border and guards doing their best to try to stop people. But the people are absolutely desperate."

He said earlier that many local residents expect worse violence to come.

"The interim government [led by Roza Otunbayeva] said that this was a planned, orchestrated event.

"There are rumours that it began as a skirmish between two groups of men at a casino, but what
is strange about it is that it suddenly exploded into something different, with hundreds
of men burning cars and properties. It has a very inter-ethnic dimension to it."

Kyrgyzstan, which won independence with the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991, has been in turmoil since the revolt that toppled Bakiyev.

Ethnic rivalries

Political tensions between the agricultural south and the north of Kyrgyzstan exist alongside ethnic and clan rivalries.

Bakiyev's supporters briefly seized government buildings in the south on May 13, defying central authorities in the capital, Bishkek.

Two people were killed and 74 were wounded on May 19 in clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the city of Jalalabad. On the
same day, Otunbayeva said she would rule the country until 2011, scrapping earlier plans for presidential polls in October.

Jalalabad has also been the scene of fierce clashes between supporters
of the interim government and those of Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus.

Of Kyrgyzstan's 5.3 million population, ethnic Kyrgyz make up
69.6 per cent, Uzbeks 14.5 per cent and Russians 8.4 per cent.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/06/20106113533945972.html