Kyrgyztan's authorities have increased security in the southwest of the country to prevent a repeat of a deadly ethnic conflict that broke out in the region last year, AKIpress said on Thursday.
Last June, at least 400 people died and thousands were injured in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz people and minority Uzbeks in the Osh and Jalalabad regions. About 500,000 people were left homeless and many fled across the border to neighboring Uzbekistan.
"The situation on the whole is relatively calm but concerns remain because some forces are trying to destabilize the situation," Deputy Interior Minister Bakyt Alimbekov said at a news conference in Osh. He said police had confiscated leaflets calling for unrest in the Osh and Jalalabad areas.
The situation in the southwest has remained tense due to unresolved social problems and the availability of firearms.
MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti)
