Monday, June 14, 2010

Russia Readying Kyrgyzstan Action

 Acccording to the London Times:

The Kremlin edged closer last night to military intervention in Kyrgyzstan as the number of people killed in ethnic violence spiralled and as many as 100,000 refugees flooded neighbouring Uzbekistan.  
An emergency meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) — the Russian-dominated group of former Soviet states — said that it was sending helicopters and lorries to help the Kyrgyz Government to quell fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that has raged for four days in southern Kyrgyzstan. At least 124 people have died and 1,500 have been wounded, although some witnesses believe the number of deaths is far higher.  
“This is extremely dangerous for this region and for this reason it is necessary to do everything possible to put an end to such acts,” President Medvedev of Russia said, after the meeting in Moscow.