The United States has committed $32.267 million in response to the current humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the U.S. State Department said.
"The United States has committed $32.267 million to programs for humanitarian relief, reconstruction, and community stabilization, and expects additional efforts to be announced in the near future," the State Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
At least 187 people died and more than 1,900 injured in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups in southern Kyrgyzstan. The unrest broke out in the city of Osh on June 11 and then spread to the neighboring Jalalabad region.
More than 80,000 ethnic Uzbeks have reportedly fled from Kyrgyzstan to neighboring Uzbekistan amid clashes, which have been described by some Kyrgyz rights activists as "genocide." Uzbeks make up about half the population in the turbulent area.
"The United States is deeply concerned and is closely monitoring developments in the Kyrgyz Republic and the affected border regions of Uzbekistan and supports international efforts to facilitate peace and order and the provision of humanitarian assistance coordinated by the United Nations and other international organizations," the statement said.
The funds "will be directed to meeting immediate humanitarian needs, providing assistance to displaced and returning families, and also to address the roots of the conflict through community development and conflict mitigation programs in Southern Kyrgyz Republic."
The State Department said these commitments were in addition to the ongoing U.S. annual assistance programs for Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan designed to achieve long term development goals.
The United States has a transit center on the territory of Manas Airport at the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, which is vital for supplying troops in Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
