UN Chief Ban Ki-moon Alarmed by Kyrgyzstan Clashes

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed alarm at the scale of clashes and their inter-ethnic nature in southern Kyrgyzstan. Mr Ban also ordered his envoy to travel to the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

Mr Ban's spokesman said the comments were made in a telephone call to the foreign minister of Kazakhstan, who currently chairs the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, reports BBC News.

The two officials agreed that they would co-ordinate a response to the crisis, together with the European Union.

More than 100 people were killed in three days of clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the city of Osh and surrounding areas, officials say. Tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have been forced to flee the country.

Witnesses speak of Kyrgyz men shooting ethnic Uzbeks and setting property alight. On Saturday, the interim government in Bishkek gave security forces shoot-to-kill powers. It also urged Russia to send in troops to help quell the violence, but Moscow said it had no plans to intervene.

However, Russia sent a battalion of paratroopers - at least 150 soldiers - to protect a Russian air base in the north of Kyrgyzstan.