OSH, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) – A group of ex-Soviet states yesterday proposed sending helicopters and equipment to help Kyrgyzstan’s government stop ethnic violence that has killed at least 124 people, and suggested troops could follow.
The Collective Security Treaty Organiza-tion (CSTO) met in Moscow to discuss how to halt rioting and clashes that have left parts of two cities in southern Kyrgyzstan in ruins and sent tens of thousands of Uzbeks fleeing for the border. The threat of full-blown civil war has tested the capacity of the grouping, dominated by Russia but strained by rivalries, to deal with a disaster in one of its member states.
Reporting to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, CSTO Secretary-General Nikolai Bordyuzha said national security chiefs from the seven-nation bloc hammered out a proposal to help Kyrgyz authorities.
“They have enough forces today but they do not have enough equipment, helicopters, ground transport … even fuel,” Bordyuzha said, according to Russian news agencies.
He said the proposal, to be submitted to the bloc’s heads of state, included help bringing those responsible for violence to justice, but said nothing about sending in troops.
Earlier, Bordyuzha said the CSTO had a peacekeeping contingent and rapid-reaction forces but cautioned that “one should think it over well before using these means”.
Medvedev hinted at more aggressive measures, saying he might call an emergency summit of the CSTO “if the situation worsens”.
“The atmosphere in Kyrgyzstan is intolerable; people have died and bloodshed continues, mass disorder on ethnic grounds,” he said. “This is extremely dangerous for this region.”
According to Russian news agencies, he said he had told Kyrgyzstan’s interim leader Roza Otunbayeva that “everything must be done to stop actions — within the law, but harshly”.
The interim government appealed to Russia at the weekend to send in troops. Moscow said it would consult with the CSTO, which includes Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as well as Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
The clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbek residents in the cities of Osh and Jalalabad began late on Thursday and escalated over the weekend. Witnesses said gangs with automatic rifles, iron bars and machetes set fire to houses and shot fleeing residents.
