Global General

Ethnic rioting spreads in Kyrgyzstan, with 80 dead

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-13 14:14

OSH, Kyrgyzstan?- Ethnic violence is spreading across southern Kyrgyzstan, where at least 80 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded.

A 14-year-old boy, an ethnic Uzbek reportedly shot in the head by a sniper during recent clashes, lies in a truck together with other wounded people before transportation to the hospital in the village of Naramon, near Osh airport, southern Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday, June 12, 2010. [Agencies]

Thousands of Uzbeks have fled their homes in Osh, the second-largest city in the Central Asian country that hosts US and Russian military air bases. Much of the city has been burned.

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Gunfire rang out Sunday in the city of Jalal-Abad and nearby Bazar-Kurgan village was tense.

Local political activist Asyl Tekebayev said a mob of up to 400 Uzbeks was overturning cars. He said they killed a police captain.

Residents say armed Kyrgyz men from other parts of the region are arriving in the village.

The violence is the worst since Kyrgyzstan's president was ousted in a revolt in April.