Kyrgyzstan on Saturday asked Russia to send troops to end ethnic violence that has killed more than 60 people and wounded about 800 in the impoverished nation that hosts US and Russian military bases, the country’s interim President said.
Ms Roza Otunbayeva acknowledged that her government has lost control over the south, as the country’s second-largest city, Osh, slid further into chaos in the second day of violence. Gangs of young Kyrgyz men armed with firearms and metal bars were marching on Uzbek neighbourhoods and setting their homes on fire. Thousands of terrified ethnic Uzbeks were fleeing toward the nearby border with Uzbekistan. A reporter who visited the border witnessed people fleeing in panic and saw bodies of children killed in the stampede.
The interim authorities have sent troops and armour into the city, but they have failed to stop the rampages. Russia has an air base in Kyrgyzstan guarded by a small contingent of soldiers and will have to send additional troops in if it decides to help. The official death toll has climbed to at least 62, while 790 people have been wounded, the health ministry said. The real figures may be higher because doctors and human rights workers said ethnic Uzbeks were afraid to seek hospital treatment.
“The situation in the Osh region has spun out of control,” Ms Otunbayeva told reporters. “Attempts to establish a dialogue have failed, and fighting and rampages are continuing. We need outside forces to quell confrontation.”
The unrest is the worst violence since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was toppled in a bloody uprising in April and fled the country. It comes as a crucial test of the government’s ability to control the country, hold a June 27 vote on a new Constitution and go ahead with new parliamentary elections scheduled for October.