4 Killed in Kyrgyzstan Rioting
Supporters of a jailed opposition lawmaker battled police in southern Kyrgyzstan, leaving four dead and dozens injured. The president urged calm Monday after the rare clash and blamed his political foes for the violence.
The bloodshed Sunday marked the first time that an opposition protest turned violent in the 10-year history of this Central Asian nation, where U.S. and other foreign forces are deployed for the campaign in nearby Afghanistan.
About 2,000 people had gathered in the village of Karadzigach in mountainous, impoverished southern Kyrgyzstan. In ensuing rioting, four protesters were killed and 15 hospitalized with wounds, while 47 police were injured, the prosecutor general said Monday.
President Askar Akayev addressed the shocked nation on state television Monday evening “with pain and sorrow in my heart.”
The protesters were hoping to be present Monday in the neighboring village of Toktogul for the sentencing of Azimbek Beknazarov, a lawmaker who was arrested in January on charges of abuse of power.
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