Kyrgyzstan declares state of emergency as deadly clashes flare

[FarCenter]

Friday, June 11, 2010
BISHKEK - Agence France-Presse

Kyrgyz soldiers drive an armored vehicle through the streets in Osh on Friday. AFP photo

Kyrgyzstan's interim government declared a state of emergency and slapped a curfew on southern parts of the country Friday as ethnic clashes left at least 37 people dead and more than 500 wounded.

Interim President Roza Otunbayeva, whose government has struggled to assert its rule over the ex-Soviet Central Asian state since taking power amid unrest in April, backed off earlier statements that authorities had regained control.

"The situation remains tense. Similar conflicts occurred in the month of May. Then we were able to bring the situation under control by imposing a state of emergency," she said in a statement.

"Now again we are forced to impose a curfew."

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Brawls had broken out overnight between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbek groups in Osh, once the stronghold of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown in April, witnesses said.

Buildings and cars were set alight and shop windows smashed across the city, as groups of men battled in the streets with guns and improvised weapons.

Troops in armored personnel carriers blocked off the ethnic Uzbek neighborhood of Cheryomushki, which one resident reached there by telephone said had fallen into the hands of gangs armed with automatic weapons.

<SNIP>http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=kyrgyzstan-declares-state-of-emergency-after-deadly-clashes-2010-06-11