Thousands flee ethnic bloodshed in Kyrgyzstan
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Bishkek (June 13): Tens of thousands of refugees fled raging ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan today as the fragile interim government gave shoot-to-kill orders against marauding gangs terrorising the population.
Neighbouring Uzbekistan said it had hastily set up camps along the border to provide shelter for a crushing influx of more than 32,000 ethnic Uzbeks — mostly women and children — from its fellow former Soviet state.
Chaotic gun battles between rival groups in southern Kyrgyzstan left 97 people dead and more than 1,200 injured in three days, prompting the embattled Kyrgyz government to extend emergency rule and beg Moscow for help.
Russia sent a squadron of paratroopers to protect its airbase in the central Asian nation, but declined to get involved in the unrest that has riven Kyrgyzstan since former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in April.
Interim President Roza Otunbayeva's provisional government decreed late yesterday (June 12) that lethal force would now be authorised to protect civilians, amid growing calls from foreign leaders and aid groups to end the clashes.
AFP
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It is an unfortunate time to be caught in such tragic circumstances. The United States is absorbed over its own problems in the Gulf of Mexico and Afghanistan, while Europe is busy trying to manage a looming sovereign-debt crisis.
The rest of the world, meanwhile, is absorbed in World Cup celebrations. Not to make light of the deaths, but the global community really doesn't have much appetite for bloodshed at the moment.