Violence in Kyrgyzstan

The situation in Jalalabad has apparently turned for the worse. It is important to note that the casualties, from what is known now, are policemen, killed by a furious group of protesters (see chronology further below). The last time when protests claimed the life of people was in 2002, when followers of Bekhnazarov clashed with the police in the Aksy region and five of Bekhnazarov's followers died.

The protests during the last days show that Ambassador Young's remarks on the political culture in Kyrygzstan remain true.

As an observer of Kyrgyz politics, I have been somewhat disappointed to see the great gap between the government and the opposition. There is insufficient effort by one side to understand the other.

Apparently, the police units that were involved in the clashes had been sent down to Jalalabad from Bishkek.

Newsbytes:

Australian reporter Michael Steen reports of four people being killed:

But yesterday thousands of protesters stormed government buildings in Dzhalal Abad and at least four policemen were reported beaten to death.

In the meantime, the US government reacts:

"We are concerned about incidents of violence,'' State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said in an e-mailed statement yesterday from Washington. "We call on all parties in Kyrgyzstan to engage in dialogue and resolve differences peacefully according to the rule of law.''

Earlier on, Interfax spoke of ten casualties:

MOSCOW, March 20 (Reuters) - As many as 10 people may have been killed on Sunday in clashes between police and opposition activists in southern Kyrgyzstan, Interfax news agency quoted a police source as saying.

The events in Jalalabad had unfolded over the past days.

Antigovernment protesters in the southern Kyrgyzstan town of Jalal-Abad have retaken the provincial administration building and set fire to a police station after overnight raids by security forces. At least 10,000 demonstrators gathered in the streets of Jalal-Abad today after police evicted protesters from the administration building earlier in the day."

Then, on Sunday, the protesters went to re-take the police station.

At least 10,000 pro-democracy protesters stormed a police station and forced workers to flee a governor’s office in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday (...) Police fled to the roof of their station, firing shots into the air to deter the stone-throwing protesters in the southern city of Jalal-Abad, regional government spokesman Orazaly Karasartov said. (...) He said smoke could be seen rising from the police station and that protesters broke windows.

Local civic activist Cholpon Ergesheva said 20,000 people were taking part in the protests and that the demonstrators had taken over the governor’s office in Jalal-Abad. She said two of the police station’s three buildings were on fire.

This post will be updated as soon as news come in.
Nathan over at 'The Registan' will probably start posting around noon (European time).