Uzbekistan President Shabkat Milziyoev said on Sunday that civilians and law enforcement officials were killed or injured after a rare protest in a Central Asian country. At least five of the exiled opposition politicians had been killed.
Separately, local government officials said thousands of people were hospitalized on the Uzbek news website.
In a statement posted online, Mirjiyoev "destructive action" by a mob throwing stones, firing and attacking police in the city of Nux, the capital of northwestern Karakalpacstan. Said that he did.
"Unfortunately, there are victims between civilians and law enforcement officers," he said. The statement did not identify the number and nature of the victims.
Sultanbek Ziyaev, head of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Karakalpacstan, told news website Daryo.uz that Nux's hospital was full of patients injured when protesters clashed with security forces. Told.
According to the website, "thousands of injured have been hospitalized and treated," he said.
The injured who have shown at least two seriously are carried by their arms and legs. One was bleeding from the abdomen and the other was screaming.
Another person crouched down in an apparently lifeless body on the street, shouting "The man is dying", and when the shot rang, he showed a young man running for a cover. rice field. Reuters couldn't immediately confirm the authenticity of the video.
Exiled opposition politician Prato Afnov told Reuters that at least five people had been killed, based on contact with local sources and video evidence. He said there were unconfirmed reports that dozens more people had died.
Mr Afnov said people were unable to move around or obtain more information due to the emergencies imposed by the authorities.
Uzbekistan is a tightly controlled former Soviet Republic, and the government is cracking down on all forms of opposition. This year was the second outbreak of anxiety in Central Asia after Kazakhstan quelled a major protest in January and Russia and other former Soviet republics sent troops to help restore order to the authorities. .. The protests in
Uzbekistan were prompted by a planned constitutional amendment to deprive Karakalpacstan of autonomy. About a turn, the president withdrew those plans on Saturday.
Afnov, chairman of the opposition Belik Party, told Reuters of Sweden that he had accused the use of deadly power.
"The authorities should have opted for dialogue and negotiation from the beginning," he said.
He said he was afraid that the situation could escalate into a national conflict between Uzbek and Karakalpac, a minority group in his own language. Authorities convened a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation, he added.
Kazakhstan expressed concern about what happened in Uzbekistan and welcomed the authorities' move to stabilize the situation.
Steve Swerdlow, an associate professor of human rights at the University in Southern California and an expert in the region, said Uzbekistan when proclaiming casualties and their use. Said that it should be as transparent as possible. Look at the power of power and what was the central concern of the protest in the long run.
