Kyrgyzstan orders troops to quell ethnic clashes

Kyrgyz troops and police were patrolling Osh and Jalal Abad in the south of Kyrgyzstan with a green light from the interim government to shoot to kill to quell continuing ethnic unrest. A government decree said lethal force would be authorised to repel attacks against the authorities, stop the destruction of government and private property and protect civilians.Violence has left more than 200 people dead and hundreds others got injured whereas property of billions of rupees has been damaged. The provisional government has struggled to impose order in the Central Asian state since seizing control during riots that ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April. The authorities on Saturday declared a second state of emergency in the southern city of Jalalabad. Deputy Interim Minister Azimbek Beknadzarov said on national television that this had become necessary because the instability was spreading. The violence first erupted in the Osh region late Thursday when brawls between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks escalated into running street battles, prompting the government to impose a curfew and state of emergency. Cars were smashed and burned, and buildings set on fire, in the city, which was once the stronghold of Bakiyev.