On June 10th 2010, ethnic violence broke out in Osh between Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities. 500 people, mostly Uzbeks, were killed, and hundreds of thousands more forced to flee Kyrgyzstan. Aid organisations have built thousands of homes to shelter Uzbeks whose homes were destroyed. But a year on, the situation for many of them is as bad as ever.
As soon as night falls in Osh, special forces patrol, weapons at the ready. In June, ethnic clashes of a rare violence took place between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Today, the tension remains palpable. Uzbeks barricade themselves into their neighbourhoods for fear of being targeted again.
Two months after deadly ethnic violence, we take a look at the situation in Kyrgyzstan. International aid totaling $1.1 billion has been pledged to help rebuild the divided country. Though the clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz have subsided for the moment, establishing long-term peace is another matter.
An international police force may be needed to restore stability in Kyrgyzstan after ethnic clashes left hundreds dead, the OSCE said on Wednesday, amid reports that thousands of refugees who fled to neighbouring Uzbekistan were returning home.
Kyrgyzstan's army has begun removing barricades erected during this month's bloody ethnic violence that centred around the southern city of Osh. The fighting has left an estimated 2,000 people dead and more than 400,000 displaced.
Tens of thousands of minority Uzbeks have fled the deadliest violence Kyrgyzstan has seen since the two ethnic groups fought over land 20 years ago as Moscow lost its grip on the former Soviet republic in Central Asia.
