Clashes continue in Kyrgyzstan

Heavy arms fire rang out over the Kyrgyz city of Osh today as authorities struggled to bring order to the Central Asian country’s south after days of deadly ethnic riots.

The violence – which erupted last Thursday in Osh between the majority Kyrgyz population and Uzbeks and spread to surrounding regions – has prompted more than 100,000 Uzbeks to flee for their lives to Uzbekistan, with tens of thousands more camped on the Kyrgyz side of the border or stranded in no-man’s land.

Humanitarian aid is trickling in via Uzbekistan, though some supplies coming via Osh were reportedly intercepted and volunteers attacked.

The official death count from the past week of violence rose to 189 today, with 1,910 wounded, the health ministry said. But observers believe the real toll is much higher, with many victims being buried quickly in keeping with Muslim tradition.

Meanwhile, thousands of ethnic Uzbeks were camped in squalid conditions near the Uzbekistan border, waiting to cross and enter one of the dozens of refugee camps there.

The United Nations has been delivering aid including bread through Uzbekistan, saying there was a lack of security along routes through Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyz authorities said some 160 tons of aid have been sent to Osh and Jalal-Abad – another city to suffer serious damage in the rioting. But there were concerns about whether it was all reaching the needy.

Aid workers in Osh have received numerous threats of physical violence if they deliver aid to ethnic Uzbeks, human rights advocate Yelena Voronina told internet-based news agency 24.kg.

The US has allocated $10m (€8m) for humanitarian aid, the embassy in Bishkek said.

The week of violence follows a bloody uprising in April which toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

The UN believes the fighting was “orchestrated, targeted and well-planned” - set off by organised groups of gunmen in ski masks.

The UN statement stopped short of apportioning blame, but it bolstered claims by the interim Kyrgyz government that hired attackers organised by Mr Bakiyev marauded through Osh, shooting at both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks to inflame old tensions.

Both the US and Moscow have air bases in the strategically located nation, but they are in the north, far from the rioting.

The West has urged Kyrgyzstan to forge ahead with a June 27 referendum on the constitution and parliamentary elections in October despite the violence.