Uzbeks return to shattered homes
Uzbek refugees displaced by ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan are returning to their wrecked homes
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Wednesday June 16 2010
Uzbek refugees displaced by ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan have started trickling back to their wrecked homes in Osh, desperate for food and water that aid agencies have had trouble delivering to the thousands camped out on the border.
Kyrgyzstan's weak military has been gradually regaining control of Osh, the epicentre of the violence that left hundreds dead and forced more than 100,000 Uzbeks from their homes at the hands of Kyrgyz mobs.
Thousands of Uzbeks remain fearful of returning from border areas and are awaiting their chance to enter camps on the Uzbekistan side.
Some humanitarian aid via Uzbekistan has been getting through to those on the border, but for thousands on the Kyrgyz side it has not been enough. International aid agencies say they have had trouble getting aid to the Uzbeks.
Troops have encircled the city with checkpoints and hold the central square, but locals have complained that some soldiers were also looting food aid. Some refugees who deserted Jalal-Abad, another town to have suffered heavy damaging in the rioting, have been stopped from returning by authorities who set up a checkpoint on the road back into the city.
The rioting undermined attempts to bring stability in the wake of a bloody uprising in April that deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Authorities accuse Mr Bakiyev and his family of stoking the rioting to thwart a June 27 referendum that would give the interim government more legitimacy. Some observers believe the unrest was instigated after his clan lost control of a key drug transit route.
The leader of Kyrgyzstan's Uzbek community has said the death toll among Uzbeks exceeds 300. The official toll on both sides is nearly 200, although officials have acknowledged it is likely to be far higher.
The interim Kyrgyz government has alleged that attackers hired by Mr Bakiyev set off the bloodshed by shooting at both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, who have a history of ethnic tensions.
The United Nations bolstered the claims by saying the fighting was "targeted and well-planned", and appeared to have begun with five simultaneous attacks in Osh by men wearing ski masks.
Observers have said the unrest may have been related to control over drugs transit routes from Afghanistan.
