17 KILLED, 200 WOUNDED IN KYRGYZ RIOTS

11.06.2010 [15:43]
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Baku, June 11 (AZERTAC). Officials in Kyrgyzstan say at least 17 people have been killed and at least 200 others wounded in riots in the southern city of Osh, VOA reported.

Fighting erupted between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups early Friday and grew larger during the day.

Rioters smashed windows, looted businesses and burned cars, prompting the Kyrgyz government to declare a state of emergency in Osh and three neighboring districts. A Kyrgyz government spokesman, Farid Niyazov, says authorities sent armored vehicles to the site of the riots and imposed a nighttime curfew.

Southern Kyrgyzstan was the power base of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown in an April uprising in which 85 people were killed.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao called for a quick resolution to the situation in Kyrgyzstan. The leaders spoke at a summit of regional leaders in the Uzbek capital Tashkent Saturday.

17 KILLED, 200 WOUNDED IN KYRGYZ RIOTS

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