Moscow – Gunmen attacked police posts and stormed a prison in eastern Uzbekistan early Friday, unleashing a day of protest, chaos and violence that left at least 10 people dead and dozens more wounded in what one participant called an uprising against the government of President Islam Karimov.
Friday’s violence followed several peaceful protests over the prosecution of 23 businessmen accused of fomenting Islamic extremism – the latest in what government critics and international organizations call a harsh crackdown against opponents.
The violence raised new concerns about the political stability of Uzbekistan, the most populous of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia and an important ally of the U.S. in the Bush administration’s counter terrorism policies.
Friday evening, government soldiers moved in and opened fire on thousands of protesters who had occupied the central square of Andijan, a city in the restive Fergana Valley, where Islamic and anti-government sentiment has long simmered.
At least one person died in the shooting on the square, while several others were wounded, as panicked protesters fled bursts of gunfire and the chop of helicopters hovering overhead, The Associated Press and Reuters reported, citing witness accounts.
Other reports, impossible to verify immediately, suggested the death toll could rise.
By nightfall, troops loyal to Karimov’s government appeared to have gained control of the central square, dispersing the protesters, according to news reports from the city.
It was not immediately clear whether they succeeded in freeing at least a dozen hostages being held in the mayor’s office nearby, which the armed gunmen seized in the hours after storming the prison.
Karimov’s government announced earlier that nine people died and 34 were wounded when “an armed group of criminals” attacked the city’s police and military posts and stormed its prison shortly after midnight Friday, freeing hundreds of prisoners.
The gunmen and freed prisoners were then joined in the central square by hundreds of protesters in what appeared to be a spontaneous demonstration of support.
“We will resist to the end,” Sharif Shakirov, 33, one of those inside the mayor’s office, said via telephone before the building and square were convulsed by gunfire and chaos.
The uprising followed the political upheaval in March in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where regional protests against disputed parliamentary elections swiftly spread to the capital and forced the president, Askar Akayev, to flee.