Ethnic rioting spreads in Kyrgyzstan, with 80 dead
This is troubling and it seems to be getting worse by the day. Osh is only a couple of hundred miles or so from the border of Afghanistan. With all the tribalism in the area, if the fighting were to spill over into the neighboring republics things could get very bad very quickly; not only for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but also for Pakistan and the rest of the region.
There are too many players in the area who might welcome the distraction a Central Asian upheaval would provide to do… lord only knows what.
[…]
Interim President Roza Otunbayeva acknowledged Saturday that her government has lost control over Osh, a city of 250,000, even though it sent troops, armor and helicopters to quell the riots.
Otunbayeva asked Russia to send in troops, but the Kremlin said it would not meddle in what it described as Kyrgyzstan’s internal conflict. Russia sent in a plane to deliver humanitarian supplies and evacuate some of the victims.
Russia has about 500 troops, mostly air force personnel, at a base in Kyrgyzstan. The United States has the Manas air base in the capital, Bishkek, a crucial supply hub for the coalition fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The official casualty toll Sunday rose to at least 80 people dead and 1,066 wounded, with more than 600 hospitalized, the Health Ministry said. The real figures may be much higher, because doctors and human rights workers said ethnic Uzbeks were too afraid to seek hospital treatment.
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