Russia has refused to send in troops as ethnic riots racked southern Kyrgyzstan, forcing thousands of Uzbeks to flee as their homes were torched by roving mobs of Kyrgyz men.

Armed mobs torched entire districts in southern Kyrgyzstan today during ethnic clashes that left around 40 dead and over 500 wounded.

Kyrgyzstan’s restive south calmed down today after a failed attempt to take control by supporters of the nation’s deposed president in which one person died and dozens were wounded.

Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev quit the country for neighbouring Kazakhstan today.

The head of Kyrgyzstan’s interim government said today talks with the its deposed president were possible, but prospects for a compromise were clouded by mutual distrust and threats to use force.

KYRGYZSTAN’S ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev made his first public appearance yesterday since being toppled in a popular uprising, slamming his opponents and refusing to step down.

THE president of Kyrgyzstan declared from hiding last night that he would not surrender to a violent uprising that put the opposition in control of much of the country, home to a US air base key to the war in nearby Afghanistan.

More than 2,000 unarmed supporters of a presidential candidate who was denied registration in next month’s Kyrgyzstan election stormed the Kyrgyz government headquarters today.

Kyrgyzstan has forced scores of refugees who fled Uzbekistan after it exploded in unrest to return despite fears they could face cruel treatment, a Kyrgyz official said today, as other refugees vowed to go home voluntarily to demand their government’s removal.

About 150 Uzbek refugees trying to flee to neighbouring Kyrgyzstan after a violent crackdown on protesters in Uzbekistan have been turned back by Kyrgyz authorities, who also warned they could quickly deport others who had previously crossed the border, officials said today.

FAMILIES of the hundreds of people killed when Uzbek troops opened fire to quell protests in Andizhan buried their dead yesterday as witnesses told of bloody mayhem in which women and children were gunned down.

President Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan fled the country’s capital today after protesters stormed his headquarters, seized control of state television and rampaged through government offices.

NINETEEN people were killed and seven injured in a bus accident in southern Kyrgyzstan yesterday, officials said.

Nineteen people were killed and seven injured in a bus accident in southern Kyrgyzstan today, officials said.

A LANDSLIDE buried a village in southern Kyrgyzstan late on Monday, killing 33 people including 16 children, emergency officials said.

More than 30 people were feared dead after a landslide engulfed a village in southern Kyrgyzstan today.