Riots are under way in Kyrgyzstan, with marauders stealing everything they can lay their hands on
Riots are under way in Kyrgyzstan, with marauders stealing everything they can lay their hands on.
The Government House in Bishkek has been vandalized; marauders are stealing equipment and carpets from it.
Opposition leaders have appealed to the protesters at the Government House not to destroy property, but are unable to change the situation.
Protesters have set a dozen cars on fire in front of the Government House.
Fires raged in downtown Bishkek last night
6/13
© RIA Novosti . Andrey Stenin
Several large stores have been vandalized and set on fire.
The building of the Prosecutor General’s Office has been razed to the ground, and the Fine Arts Museum has been attacked.
Photo: A burning car in front of the State Security Ministry in Bishkek.
Photo: A burning car in front of the State Security Ministry in Bishkek.
Last night protesters burned President Bakiyev’s portraits, and also set fire to and vandalized three houses belonging to his family and relatives.
Photo: A burning car in front of the Government House in Bishkek.
Photo: A burning car in front of the Government House in Bishkek.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, 68 people have been reported killed and over 500 injured in Kyrgyzstan.
Photo: An armored personnel carrier and burning cars in front of the Government House in Bishkek.
Photo: An armored personnel carrier and burning cars in front of the Government House in Bishkek.
As fires rage in Bishkek, ambulances take the injured to hospitals. They are given first aid in the hallways because there are no spare beds.
The Kyrgyz police have sided with the provisional opposition government set up on Wednesday after riots broke out in several regions of the country, Bolotbek Sherniyazov, the Interior Minister of the provisional opposition government, told journalists.
Photo: Protesters in the streets of Bishkek.
Photo: Protesters in the streets of Bishkek.
Riots in Kyrgyzstan have been going on for the third day. They were provoked by the authorities’ ban on a nationwide congress (kurultai) and arrest of opposition leaders on Tuesday evening. On April 6, unrest began in Talas, a major city in northern Kyrgyzstan, where protesters seized the local administration building. In the morning of April 7, protest rallies in all regions of the country demanded release of the opposition leaders. In Bishkek, protesters seized the TV station and the parliament, and then broke into the Government House. The opposition leaders were released in the afternoon.
Photo: The Government House in Bishkek occupied by the opposition.
Photo: The Government House in Bishkek occupied by the opposition.
The opposition demands that the authorities end “political persecution,” lift restrictions on human and civil rights, and cut electricity, heating, water and communication fees. Bakiyev’s opponents have also accused him of selling out strategic facilities in the power industry and communications, of “family rule” and plans to turn over power to his son Maxim.
Photo: An armored personnel carrier of the opposition at the Government House in Bishkek.
Photo: An armored personnel carrier of the opposition at the Government House in Bishkek.
