Kyrgyzstan imposes emergency as clashes kill 45

Kyrgyzstan's interim government declared a state of emergency and slapped a curfew on southern parts of the country Friday as ethnic clashes left at least 45 people dead and more than 630 wounded.

Interim President Roza Otunbayeva, whose government has struggled to assert its rule over the ex-Soviet Central Asian state since taking power amid unrest in April, acknowledged the authorities had not yet contained the violence.

"The situation remains tense. Similar conflicts occurred in the month of May. Then we were able to bring the situation under control by imposing a state of emergency," she said in a statement.

"Now again we are forced to impose a curfew."

Thousands of protesters gathered in central Bishkek demanding to travel to Osh to take part in the fighting, witnesses said.

Protesters seized cars and minibuses and commandeered them to travel to Osh, while police threw stones and used dogs to break up protests, the Kabar news agency reported.

"We need the means and manpower to stop the stream of people trying to reach Osh," Otunbayeva said.

Protesters briefly entered the television centre and interrupted a broadcast of the football World Cup, a television centre worker told AFP.

Around 1,000 police and volunteers patrolled the city and situation was "under complete control," the acting police chief said.

Otunbayeva warned the situation in Osh was likely to deteriorate overnight as government forces attempted to regain control.

Witnesses in Osh described chaotic scenes, with gunfire ringing out throughout the day and heavily armed helicopters swooping low over the centre of Osh.

"I can't leave the city. There are no flights, no cars, no public transport whatsoever," Andrea Berg, Central Asia researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, told AFP by phone from a guest house where she remained trapped.

"There is still shooting going on. While I'm talking to you I hear shooting and it's really not far away," she said.

"People are praying that the night will pass calmly without deaths," rights campaigner Dzhamilya Kaparova told AFP.

"Armoured personnel carriers are patrolling the city, the military are telling us to go home because the curfew has begun. But there are still barricades on the streets."

Brawls had broken out overnight Thursday between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbek groups in Osh, once the stronghold of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown in April, witnesses said.

Buildings and cars were set alight and shop windows smashed across the city, as groups of men battled in the streets with guns and improvised weapons.

Since last April's uprising, which ousted Bakiyev and left 87 people dead, foreign and international leaders have warned of the danger of civil war in this strategically important country.

The leaders of Russia and China called for calm as the unrest topped talks at a regional security summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in neighbouring Uzbekistan.

"We sincerely hope that this phase of internal turmoil is overcome as soon as possible," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at the meeting.

"China and other neighbours will continue to offer Kyrgyzstan all possible help," Chinese President Hu Jintao said through a Russian translator, calling for "a swift stabilisation of the situation."

The United States, which maintains an airbase outside the capital Bishkek seen as vital to coalition military operations in Afghanistan, also appealed for stability, as did the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The US embassy in Bishkek said it "is deeply saddened about the reports of injuries and loss of life due to violence in Osh. We urge everyone to resolve differences peacefully."

The US base at Manas is a key hub for US air refueling tankers and the giant transport planes that ferry US troops and supplies to and from Afghanistan.

NATO has increasingly relied on the base as 30,000 additional US forces deploy to Afghanistan.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern about the renewed ethnic clashes and reiterated the need "to respect the rule of law and to resolve issues peacefully through dialogue".

Ban said his special representative, Miroslav Jenca, who was in Osh Sunday, would press on with his efforts to ensure peace and stability.

OSCE acting president Kanat Saudabayev, who is foreign minister of neighbouring Kazakhstan, said, "I call on all parties to refrain from violence and to resolve the existing problems through dialogue and compromise."

The OSCE is "ready to continue to help in resolving the current situation in Kyrgyzstan", the statement said.