Five people were killed and many wounded in Kyrgyzstan as riots broke out in the capital Bishkek less than two weeks after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in a violent uprising.
A crowd of several hundred young people wielding iron rods and sticks attacked a major marketplace in Bishkek on Tuesday, crashing and looting stalls, said newswire reports. The attack followed overnight clashes on the outskirts of Bishkek, where an estimated 1,000 ethnic Kyrgyz tried to seize land belonging to Turks and Russians.
The Kyrgyz Health Ministry said five people were killed and 28 wounded as both sides used firearms.
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged the new Kyrgyz authorities to take “all necessary and sufficient measures” to “rebuild the state, which has been pulled down”.
“Anarchy will deal a severe blow to the interests of Kyrgyzstan and its neighbours,” he said at a joint press conference with visiting President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov in the Kremlin on Tuesday.
Mr. Karimov, who had rushed to Moscow to discuss the Kyrgyz crisis, said he feared the unrest in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan could become “permanent” and spill over to other Central Asian states.
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Meanwhile, supporters of the ousted President in the southern province of Jalalabad are demanding the reinstatement of Mr. Bakiyev, who flew to neighbouring Kazakhstan last Thursday and tendered his resignation from there.
He and his family have been blamed for 86 deaths during the uprising.