ReliefWeb

People with valid documents passed through the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan freely on Wednesday as unrest in the eastern part of Uzbekistan has returned to normal.

In the border city of Kara-Su, which had only been closed for one day during the riots in Uzbekistan, businessmen and travelers passed through the checkpoint smoothly after a brief check of their documents by border security guards of both countries.

OSH, KYRGYZSTAN, May 25, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A border security officer of Kyrgyzstan told Xinhua that the situation in Kara-Su was quite stable and there had been no Uzbek refugee inflows so far.

The Kyrgyz government set up camps for Uzbek refugees, which are under the control of Kyrgyz border security soldiers, in the border area of Suzak after the unrest in Uzbekistan forced hundreds of people into Kyrgyzstan.

Shakilov, a young Uzbek refugee at the Suzak camp, said that 510 people, including 83 women and 21 children, are living in the refugee camps and they were receiving assistance from the Kyrgyz government, the International Federation of Red Cross and the United Nations agencies.

In the Uzbek city of Andijan, where serious riots erupted on May 13 and caused thousands of Uzbek people to flee to the border with Kyrgyzstan, local residents told Xinhua through telephone that the situation in Andijan was stabilized as the government troops had already withdrawn and only police were left to maintain the security.

According to the Uzbek government, a total of 169 people were killed in the riots in Andijan. Uzbek President Islam Karimov said earlier that outlawed radical Hizb ut-Tahrir group were behind the unrest in Andijan.