200 killed in Kyrgyzstan ethnic violence

The leader of the Uzbek community in Kyrgyzstan said today that more than 200 Uzbeks have been killed in ethnic rioting in the Central Asian nation.

Zhalalidin Salakhuddinov, who heads the Uzbek National Centre, also said 100,000 refugees are stuck at the Uzbekistan border after fleeing the violence.

Mr Salakhuddinov said 200 Uzbeks have been buried so far. His figure is much higher than the interim government’s estimate of an overall death toll of 117.

Kyrgyzstan has been rocked by ethnic tensions over the last few days which have undermined the interim government’s attempts to stabilize the country.

Witnesses at one border checkpoint near the southern city of Osh said Uzbek guards were allowing some wounded to cross into Uzbekistan.

At a border crossing near Jalal-Abad, hundreds of Uzbeks were stuck in no-man’s-land between the countries. Border guards allowed Uzbek aid agencies to provide the refugees with food and water.

The official toll puts the number injured at 1,500, but international observers suggest there might be far greater casualties.

Fires set by rioters raged across Osh, the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, as triumphant crowds of Kyrgyz men took control.

Police or military troops were nowhere to be seen in the city of 250,000, where food was scarce after widespread looting and the few Uzbeks still left barricaded themselves in their neighbourhoods.

The rampages spread quickly to Jalal-Abad, another major southern city 45 miles from Osh, and its neighbouring villages, as mobs set Uzbek houses, stores and cafes on fire.

Rioters seized an armoured vehicle and automatic weapons at a local military unit and attacked police stations around the region trying to get more firearms.

Some refugees were fired on as they fled to Uzbekistan. They were mostly elderly people, women and children, with younger men staying behind to defend their property.