Gunfire rings over Osh as shaky peace begins
Source: Agencies |
June 17, 2010, Thursday
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HEAVY arms fire blazed over the Kyrgyzstan city of Osh early yesterday as authorities struggled to bring order to the Central Asian country's south after days of deadly ethnic riots.
The violence erupted last Thursday in Osh between the majority Kyrgyz population and Uzbeks.
It spread to surrounding regions and has prompted more than 100,000 Uzbeks to flee for their lives to Uzbekistan, with tens of thousands more camped on the Kyrgyz side of the border or stranded in a no man's land.
Aid was trickling in via Uzbekistan, though some supplies coming via Osh were reportedly intercepted and volunteers attacked.
One of the few Uzbek families to remain in Osh said that a mother of two was killed by shrapnel from a shell launched toward their home by the Kyrgyz military.
"The Kyrgyz are out of control. They are destroying us," said Abdumanap Mamasydykov, 38, at a funeral for the woman, his 48-year-old sister Gelbar Alynbayeba. They had remained in Dostyk, an Uzbek quarter of Osh, to tend to elderly relatives.
The official death count from the past week of violence rose to 189 yesterday, with 1,910 wounded, the Health Ministry said.
Observers believe the real toll is much higher, with many victims being buried quickly in Muslim tradition.
Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks were camped in squalid conditions near the Uzbekistan border, waiting to cross and enter one of the dozens of refugee camps there.
At a crossing near Jalal-Abad, frustration was mounting as several hundred who made it into Uzbekistan tried to return to Kyrgyzstan but were refused re-entry.
The United Nations has been delivering aid including bread through Uzbekistan, saying there was a lack of security through Kyrgyzstan.
The United States had allocated US$10 million in humanitarian aid, the American Embassy in Bishkek said.
The week of violence follows the bloody uprising in April that toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
The UN has declared that the fighting was "orchestrated, targeted and well-planned."
The violence erupted last Thursday in Osh between the majority Kyrgyz population and Uzbeks.
It spread to surrounding regions and has prompted more than 100,000 Uzbeks to flee for their lives to Uzbekistan, with tens of thousands more camped on the Kyrgyz side of the border or stranded in a no man's land.
Aid was trickling in via Uzbekistan, though some supplies coming via Osh were reportedly intercepted and volunteers attacked.
One of the few Uzbek families to remain in Osh said that a mother of two was killed by shrapnel from a shell launched toward their home by the Kyrgyz military.
"The Kyrgyz are out of control. They are destroying us," said Abdumanap Mamasydykov, 38, at a funeral for the woman, his 48-year-old sister Gelbar Alynbayeba. They had remained in Dostyk, an Uzbek quarter of Osh, to tend to elderly relatives.
The official death count from the past week of violence rose to 189 yesterday, with 1,910 wounded, the Health Ministry said.
Observers believe the real toll is much higher, with many victims being buried quickly in Muslim tradition.
Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks were camped in squalid conditions near the Uzbekistan border, waiting to cross and enter one of the dozens of refugee camps there.
At a crossing near Jalal-Abad, frustration was mounting as several hundred who made it into Uzbekistan tried to return to Kyrgyzstan but were refused re-entry.
The United Nations has been delivering aid including bread through Uzbekistan, saying there was a lack of security through Kyrgyzstan.
The United States had allocated US$10 million in humanitarian aid, the American Embassy in Bishkek said.
The week of violence follows the bloody uprising in April that toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
The UN has declared that the fighting was "orchestrated, targeted and well-planned."
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