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.

Riot police broke up a small opposition rally in the centre of the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek today, signalling the government’s determination to keep protests that have left much of the south under opposition control from spreading north.

KYRGYZ President Askar Akayev has charged the country’s opposition with attempting a coup in protests over a disputed parliamentary poll, claiming the effort was financed and managed from abroad.

Thousands of people stormed three government buildings in Kyrgyzstan today, forcing security forces to flee, in the latest in a wave of protests to demand the resignation of Soviet-era President Askar Akayev.

Skinheads attacked a group of foreign students from the Peoples’ Friendship University in Moscow, injuring six of them, reports in the Russian capital said today.