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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Suicide bombing in eastern Uzbekistan kills police officer |
| 2009-05-27 |
| State television in Uzbekistan says a suicide bomber has killed a police officer and wounded several people in the eastern city of Andijan. It said that earlier up to three men used guns and explosives to attack a police checkpoint at nearby Khanabad. The reports said another officer and a gunman were injured, and that the attackers managed to escape. They are said to have come from Kyrgyzstan. The two countries closed their border after the first attack. The motive for the attacks is not clear, but Uzbek media have speculated about a possible failed terrorist operation. Security services and military reinforcements have been sent to Khanabad. The Ferghana Valley, where Khanabad is located, has been the scene of several attacks by militant groups in the past. Observers say the rule of President Islam Karimov has fuelled extremism in the region. Local people in Andijan say that security forces shot dead hundreds of mainly peaceful protesters in 2005. The violence there broke out after an armed jailbreak turned into a huge demonstration involving thousands of Uzbeks. The Uzbek government has denied there was a massacre of civilians, saying it thwarted an Islamist uprising. It says the death toll was exaggerated, and that nearly all of those who died were soldiers or terrorists. Also: Police in Uzbekistan exchanged gunfire with a group of armed men in the eastern town of Khanabad and an explosion was heard, witnesses said on Tuesday. The circumstances of the shooting in the small town on Uzbekistan's border with Kyrgyzstan were unclear and there was no word on casualties. Authorities in Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most populous country, could not be reached for comment. A security source in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan confirmed the shootout and said the Uzbek authorities had closed the border. "They are dealing with an emergency situation," the source said. "There was a shootout. Other details are being investigated." One Khanabad resident told Reuters he had heard an explosion in the town centre overnight. He said security had been tightened but there were no signs of unrest on Tuesday. |
| Posted by:ryuge |