Soviet Soldiers Fail to Put Down Ethnic Violence; 3 Dead, 53 Hurt

Hundreds of soldiers have failed to halt ethnic violence in a Central Asian city where weekend rioting killed three people and injured 53, Soviet reports said Tuesday.

The official Tass news agency said authorities imposed a 9 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew and banned all rallies in Novy Uzen, in the republic of Kazakhstan, but “clashes between warring groups of hoodlums are continuing in the town.”

Hundreds of soldiers were sent to Novy Uzen over the weekend to quell the fighting in the city that is an isolated gas and oil refining center in the harsh Caspian Desert.

Interior Ministry spokesman Boris Mikhailov said the rioting began Friday night in Novy Uzen and was aimed at minorities originally from the Caucasus Mountain region on the other side of the Caspian Sea.

It was the third outbreak of violence in the past six weeks in Soviet Central Asia. The region has been buffeted by a soaring population, pollution, a shortage of jobs and rising ethnic tensions.

Official reports said most of the violence in Novy Uzen was against Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Lezghians who make up about 20,000 of the city’s population of 56,000 people, with Kazakhs in the majority.

Mikhailov said about 7,000 people gathered Monday in the city’s main square demanding that cooperative businesses be closed and people from the Caucasus republics be sent home.

Official reports said the trouble began with a fight between ethnic groups at a dance.