Clashes Between Rival Muslim Sects Spread in Uzbekistan; 6 Killed, 90 Wounded

At least six people were killed and 90 wounded Wednesday as ethnic clashes involving rival Muslim sects spread to another city in the Soviet Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, the official Tass news agency said Thursday.

Thousands of people stormed the police department in the city of Kokand in search of firearms, while as many as 600 people attacked a building belonging to the Interior Ministry’s transport department, Tass said.

The Communist Party newspaper Pravda reported earlier Thursday that 71 were killed in clashes between ethnic groups in Uzbekistan. The violence between the Meskhetians and the Uzbeks began last weekend around Fergana, about 60 miles east of Kojand.

The Novosti news agency said religious and ethnic differences were to blame for the trouble in Uzbekistan.

The Meskhetians--Georgians who converted to Islam when their land came under Turkish influence between the 16th and 19th centuries--are Shiite Muslims. They were deported to Uzbekistan from Georgia by dictator Josef Stalin in 1944.

The Uzbeks, who are of Turkish descent, are members of Islam’s Sunni sect.

“According to preliminary estimates, six people were killed and more than 90 wounded in the unrest on Wednesday,” Tass reported.

“Sixty-one people were hospitalized. Among the casualties are militiamen, soldiers and cadets.”

Tass said 65 houses, six administration offices and more than 20 vehicles were burned by the Kokand rioters. It said many of the rioters were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“The situation in Kokand remains tense,” Tass said. “More houses are burning.”

Soviet television said 600 people were injured in Kokand in what appeared to be the worst known single outbreak of ethnic violence in recent Soviet history.