Uzbekistan battles insurgents: Troops shoot at crowd
ANDIJAN (Uzbekistan), May 13: Troops loyal to Uzbekistan’s hardline President Islam Karimov opened fire on Friday on protesters and counter-attacked insurgents who had briefly seized control of central Andijan, the ex-Soviet republic’s fourth largest city. Panic erupted as soldiers drove a truck into the eastern Uzbek city’s main square and began shooting into a crowd of 5,000 that was demonstrating against Karimov’s government.
A correspondent saw at least one person killed and five wounded. Troops then moved in against armed anti-Karimov insurgents who had seized public buildings and freed 2,000 prisoners from the local prison, where 23 men accused of Islamic extremism were being held. The nighttime raid left at least nine dead and 34 wounded, according to the government.
Soldiers in armoured personnel carriers and lorries spread throughout the city and by late on Friday the brutal counter-offensive appeared to have brought the city back under control. Russia’s Interfax agency, quoting local police, said security forces retook the administration building on the main square after what had been particularly intense fighting.
Police also said hostages held in the building had been released. There was no immediate independent confirmation. It was one of the most serious crises to shake Uzbekistan since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The violence followed days of protests in the city against the trial of the 23 men, who were charged with forming a cell of the outlawed Islamic group Akromiya. Supporters said the charges against the men, mostly businessmen, had been trumped up by Karimov’s government, which is widely accused of using torture and arbitrary arrests to keep potential opponents under control.
Freeing those 23 men appeared to have been the main original goal of the insurgents. Late on Thursday they raided a military garrison for its weapons, then stormed the city administration building before breaking into the prison.
Witnesses described their terror as the violence erupted.
“The shooting started at 11:45 at night,” a kindergarten teacher said. It was very close. I was afraid a bullet could hit my children. We didn’t sleep at all and everyone’s afraid, he sid
It was after the night’s fighting died down that thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city centre to call for Karimov’s resignation and to protest the lack of democracy in the country. Before sending troops to the square, there had been signs that the Uzbek authorities might consider a peaceful resolution.
Mr Karimov himself headed to the city and set up a headquarters at the local airport and reports throughout the day spoke of possible negotiations. However there was no news of progress and authorities, who already control the national media, blocked broadcasts by the BBC, CNN and other international channels. State television showed films and entertainment programmes and the country’s nearby border with Kyrgyzstan was shut.
A journalist for the Ferghana news agency said that a man describing himself as one of the rebel leaders said he had been one of those freed from prison but denied being connected to Islamic extremism.
“We are believers, nothing more,” he said, adding that he wanted Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene.
He described himself as a businessman of 35, but would not give his name. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to rule out intervention, saying the disturbance was “an internal affair” of Uzbekistan.—AFP
