I love my life
"God help us! They are killing Uzbeks like
animals. Almost the
whole city is in flames, "Dilmurad Ishanov, worker to ethnic Uzbek
human rights, told Reuters by telephone from Osh.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he believed 15 Pakistani citizens were taken hostage and one killed in Osh. The Kyrgyz government said it was checking the reports.
The interim government in Kyrgyzstan, which took power in April after a popular revolt toppled president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has appealed for Russian help to quell the riots in the south.
Led by Roza Otunbayeva, the interim government has sent a volunteer force to the south and granted shoot-to-kill powers to its security forces in response to the deadly riots, which began late in Osh on Thursday before spreading to Jalalabad.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was alarmed by the scale of the clashes and ordered a special envoy to travel to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, his office said in a statement.
The Red Cross said the humanitarian situation in southern Kyrgyzstan "is becoming critical".
"We are getting reports of severe brutality, with an intent to kill," it said in a statement.
Several units of paratroopers arrived on Sunday to protect servicemen and families at Russia's Kant airbase in the north of the country, a Kremlin spokesman said. A Defence Ministry spokesman said 150 armed paratroopers had been sent, while ITAR-TASS news agency, citing ministry sources, said at least 300 were dispatched.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he believed 15 Pakistani citizens were taken hostage and one killed in Osh. The Kyrgyz government said it was checking the reports.
The interim government in Kyrgyzstan, which took power in April after a popular revolt toppled president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has appealed for Russian help to quell the riots in the south.
Led by Roza Otunbayeva, the interim government has sent a volunteer force to the south and granted shoot-to-kill powers to its security forces in response to the deadly riots, which began late in Osh on Thursday before spreading to Jalalabad.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was alarmed by the scale of the clashes and ordered a special envoy to travel to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, his office said in a statement.
The Red Cross said the humanitarian situation in southern Kyrgyzstan "is becoming critical".
"We are getting reports of severe brutality, with an intent to kill," it said in a statement.
Several units of paratroopers arrived on Sunday to protect servicemen and families at Russia's Kant airbase in the north of the country, a Kremlin spokesman said. A Defence Ministry spokesman said 150 armed paratroopers had been sent, while ITAR-TASS news agency, citing ministry sources, said at least 300 were dispatched.

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