Thousands of Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan's ethnic bloodshed trekked back across the Uzbek border to burned-out homes today, their future uncertain before a vote on how the country will be governed.
A quarter of the 400,000 ethnic Uzbeks who fled the violence earlier had streamed across the border into Uzbekistan. Reporters on either side of the barbed-wire fence separating the central Asian countries saw people weeping and hugging relatives on their return.
"We cried tears of blood, simply because we were born Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan," said Altynai Badalova, a teacher on her way home. "The Uzbek people stood as one to help us."
Three days of killing began on June 10th, when coordinated attacks by unidentified individuals in balaclavas quickly led to fierce fighting between ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz, who comprise a roughly equal share of the population in southern Kyrgyzstan.
Mainly Uzbek households were attacked and many locals have said state troops, comprising mainly ethnic Kyrgyz soldiers, did little to protect them and in some cases took part in assaults.
The United States and Russia, which both operate military air bases in Kyrgyzstan, are concerned the unrest could spread to other parts of Central Asia, a former Soviet region lying on a major drug-trafficking route out of nearby Afghanistan.
Uzbek military officials said about 5,000 refugees crossed back into Kyrgyzstan voluntarily today. A Kyrgyz border guard estimated 4,000 crossed, plus a further 2,000 yesterday.
As Kyrgyzstan's interim government prepares for a June 27th referendum on constitutional reform, many of those returning were unsure where to go. Some huddled at the border, sheltering from the blazing sun, as they decided on their next move.
Others boarded mini-buses into the centre of Osh, the Kyrgyz city six miles from the border that was the epicentre of the violence. The city was tense a day after security forces stormed ethnic Uzbek neighbourhoods to search for weapons.
Reuters