A semblance of stability seemed to be descending over southern Kyrgyzstan Thursday, a week after bloody flighting which claimed hundreds of lives broke out, reported government officials, according to dpa. However, some skirmishing was still being reported in the central Asian former Soviet republic. Osh, one of the epicentres of the recent fighting, was largely calm, said Asimbek Baknasarov, deputy head of the Kyrgyz provisional government. However, tensions remain along the border with Uzbekistan, where tens of thousands of people were gathered in refugee camps after the recent fighting. About 200 people died in the week of fighting according to official estimates from the interim government, which came just months after bloody unrest when former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in April. The Red Cross has spoken of a higher number of victims and referred to a "humanitarian crisis." The UN's special adviser on genocide, Edward Luck, has described the mass killings, as an incident which "could amount to ethnic cleansing." Uzbekistan has closed its borders to Kyrgyzstan, saying it has no more capacity to take in refugees after taking in about 75,000 people from Kyrgyzstan's Uzbek minority. Reports continued to stream in of armed groups wandering the streets with weapons. A commission is planned to investigate the outbreak of violence and whether it was intended to disrupt a planned referendum for a new constitution scheduled for June 27.
