Trouble in Osh

Other than what I see on the news and read on the Internet I do not have much information on the recent events in Osh. But, it looks very bad. This is certainly the worst ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan since 1990 and may end up being worse. Already the news is reporting that more people have been killed in Osh in the last few day than were killed in Bishkek on April 7th. So far Bishkek has not been too badly effected. Prices are going up noticeably, but other than that things still seem fairly normal. That could all change if we start getting waves of internally displaced peoples fleeing the violence in Osh.

What little information I do have that I have gotten from sources other than the news or Internet is that the attacks on Uzbeks were motivated by the rumor that a gang of Uzbeks raped and mutilated some Kyrgyz girls. I am sceptical of the veracity of this claim since it sounds like the justification for a lot of lynchings and pogroms. But, even if it does contain a kernel of truth the racist ascription of these criminal acts to Uzbeks in general by some Kyrgyz and the subsequent violence is truly disturbing.