Ethnic violence broke out on the outskirts of the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek today leaving at least one person dead and challenging efforts to restore stability after an uprising overthrew the president.
An interim government is struggling to exert control over the Central Asian state after an uprising on April 7th that ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and disrupted US military flights to Afghanistan through a Kyrgyz air base.
Supporters of Mr Bakiyev put up fresh resistance against the country's interim government today, with hundreds gathering in the south of the country to rally against the self-proclaimed government.
The interim authorities said they were sending in troops and armoured vehicles to stem the violence, in which witnesses said ethnic Kyrgyz were looting ethnic Russian and Meskhetian Turkish homes in Mayevka village. One Mayevka resident said villagers were abandoning their homes and fleeing the area. Another said gunfire had erupted after nightfall as groups of men tried to break into houses.
Kyrgyzstan's new rulers pledged fresh elections and reforms today in a bid to restore order but were confronted by resistance from Bakiyev loyalists and a general state of lawlessness after an uprising in which at least 85 people died. Bakiyev loyalists said they had installed a pro-Bakiyev governor in the restive southern region of Jalalabad, widening a stand-off with the self-proclaimed government in the capital.
The latest riots in Bishkek erupted after crowds of angry men tried to take advantage of the power vacuum following the April 7th revolt to grab land belonging to residents of villages predominantly populated by ethnic Russians and Meskhetian Turks. It was not known if any land actually had been confiscated.
Mr Bakiyev sought refuge in neighbouring Kazakhstan last week, but was on the move again today. The Kazakh foreign ministry said he had left the country for an unknown destination.
But in the southern city of Jalalabad, supporters of Mr Bakiyev seized a regional government office over the weekend and about 1,500 supporters rallied in the city square this morning.
"Bakiyev is our legitimate president!" shouted the crowd, some holding banners reading "The opposition spilt blood to grab power".
In a suburb of the capital Bishkek, about 1,000 men armed with sticks faced off with police, who cordoned off the area. A police official said three police vehicles had been torched. The incident appeared to be motivated by a land dispute in the post-uprising turbulence, rather than political resistance.
The new government, led by ex-foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva but yet to be formally recognised globally, says it allowed Mr Bakiyev to escape in order to avoid civil war and would not use force to intervene in the south.
Unrest in Kyrgyzstan is a worry for the US and Russia, both of which operate military air bases in the impoverished former Soviet republic.
At least 84 people died when protests against Mr Bakiyev's five-year rule erupted into a night of violence on April 7th. Mr Bakiyev fled the capital and tried to muster support against the opposition in the south but eventually fled to Kazakhstan.
Belarus had earlier said it would welcome Mr Bakiyev, and it is understood he also owns property in the United Arab Emirates.
Reuters