Kyrgyzstan death figure believed to be hundreds
Source: Agencies |
June 15, 2010, Tuesday
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ABOUT 100,000 minority Uzbeks fleeing a purge by mobs of Kyrgyzs massed at the border yesterday as the deadliest ethnic violence to hit the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan left a city smoldering.
With fires raging in the southern city of Osh for a fourth day yesterday, the official toll of 124 killed and more than 1,500 injured from the clashes appeared way too low.
A Uzbek community leader claimed at least 200 Uzbeks alone had already been buried, and the Red Cross said its delegates saw about 100 bodies being interred in just one cemetery.
The United States, Russia and the United Nations worked on humanitarian aid airlifts while neighboring Uzbekistan hastily set up camps to handle the flood of hungry, frightened refugees.
Most were women, children and the elderly, many Uzbekistan said, with gunshot wounds.
The interim government, which took over after former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by a mass revolt in April, has been unable to stop the violence and accused his family of instigating it to halt a crucial June 27 vote.
Uzbeks have backed the interim government, while many Kyrgyzs in the south support the toppled president.
The government said yesterday it had arrested a "well-known person" suspected of stoking the violence, but gave no further details.
Suspects from Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan have also been detained.
The interim government had planned a referendum to approve a new constitution on June 27, but it now appears unlikely to take place.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for October.
From his self-imposed exile in Belarus, Bakiyev has denied any role in the violence.
New fires raged yesterday across Osh - the country's second-largest city - which is 5 kilometers from the border with Uzbekistan.
Food and water were scarce as armed looters smashed stores, stealing everything from televisions to food.
Cars stolen from ethnic Uzbeks raced around the city, most crowded with young Kyrgyzs wielding weapons.
In the mainly Uzbek district of Aravanskoe, an area formerly brimming with shops and restaurants, entire streets were burned to the ground.
With fires raging in the southern city of Osh for a fourth day yesterday, the official toll of 124 killed and more than 1,500 injured from the clashes appeared way too low.
A Uzbek community leader claimed at least 200 Uzbeks alone had already been buried, and the Red Cross said its delegates saw about 100 bodies being interred in just one cemetery.
The United States, Russia and the United Nations worked on humanitarian aid airlifts while neighboring Uzbekistan hastily set up camps to handle the flood of hungry, frightened refugees.
Most were women, children and the elderly, many Uzbekistan said, with gunshot wounds.
The interim government, which took over after former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by a mass revolt in April, has been unable to stop the violence and accused his family of instigating it to halt a crucial June 27 vote.
Uzbeks have backed the interim government, while many Kyrgyzs in the south support the toppled president.
The government said yesterday it had arrested a "well-known person" suspected of stoking the violence, but gave no further details.
Suspects from Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan have also been detained.
The interim government had planned a referendum to approve a new constitution on June 27, but it now appears unlikely to take place.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for October.
From his self-imposed exile in Belarus, Bakiyev has denied any role in the violence.
New fires raged yesterday across Osh - the country's second-largest city - which is 5 kilometers from the border with Uzbekistan.
Food and water were scarce as armed looters smashed stores, stealing everything from televisions to food.
Cars stolen from ethnic Uzbeks raced around the city, most crowded with young Kyrgyzs wielding weapons.
In the mainly Uzbek district of Aravanskoe, an area formerly brimming with shops and restaurants, entire streets were burned to the ground.
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