Death Toll Mounts in Kyrgyzstan Riots

The situation in Kyrgyzstan is only getting worse: What began as fistfights became a full-out ethnic battle with sticks and metal rods, and then guns and Molotov cocktails in the city of Osh on Friday. The embattled interim government has declared a state of emergency, while troops in armored vehicles have attempted to break up the clashes involving Kyrgyz and Uzbek youth. "Regrettably for us, we're clearly talking about a standoff between two ethnicities," interim President Roza Otunbayeva said in the capital, Bishkek, according to Reuters. "We need [to muster] forces and means to stop and calm these people down, and this is what we are doing right now." The violence threatens to rock a nation that is still on uncertain footing two months after its president was deposed in an ugly coup. No one is quite sure what prompted the riots, but the local media reports that it began with a large brawl in the city center—the region around Osh has a history of ethnic violence involving the large Uzbek minority.