Indian govt. making arrangements to evacuate Indians stranded in Kyrgystan
merisarkar news service
New Delhi, June 14, 2010
Working to evacuate stranded Indians
As the situation worsened in ethnic riot-torn Southern Kyrgyzstan, the Indian Government is working to evacuate over hundred Indians, mostly students, stranded in the violence-hit areas of the country.
The death toll in five days of rioting in the country has crossed 113. The Indians, a majority of them students, are trapped in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh city, which has been ripped by street fighting and arson. Indian diplomatic sources in the Kyrgyz capital said the mission is arranging for a special aircraft to fly out the Indians from Osh.
The mission is in close touch with those trapped in the violence-hit city as well as with the concerned authorities in that country, including their foreign ministry, to ensure safety of the Indian community.
Sources added that the mission is also closely monitoring the situation in the nearby city of Jalalabad near the Uzbek border, where the authorities on Sunday declared a state of emergency till 22nd of June and clamped round-the-clock curfew.
The interim president Roza Otunbayeva has also conceded that the death toll could be higher than official figures as the interim government struggles to stem the worst ethnic clashes since the end of the Soviet Union.
Armed groups have been roaming through the streets of major cities in southern Kyrgyzstan amid continued ethnic violence. Shops and cafes have been set on fire in the city of Jalalabad. Members of the Uzbek minorities say they have been targeted in the violence in which more than 100 people have died.
