An armed crowd freed inmates from a prison in an eastern Uzbekistan city as thousands of activists took to the streets today to protest the trial of 23 Islamic businessmen on extremism charges while security forces fired into the air, witnesses said.

Outrage over the terror trial of 23 Muslims exploded into broader unrest in eastern Uzbekistan today when armed protesters stormed a jail to free the defendants and thousands of people swarmed the streets, clashing with police.