Death toll rises to 208 in Kyrgyz clashes
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The death toll in clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan has reached 208, with 2,101 others injured, the country's Health Ministry said on Monday.
Earlier, the Kyrgyzstan interim government has decided to extend a state of emergency in the southern city of Osh and other areas to June 25.
"The interim government of Kyrgyzstan extends the state of emergency in the city of Osh, in Uzgen, in Kara-Suu and in the Aravan district of the Osh region until June 25 inclusively," said an official statement.
The state of emergency imposed after ethnic clashes was due to expire on Sunday.
A Xinhua reporter in Osh said that stability and calm began to return to southern Kyrgyzstan, and the border areas between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
As a result, Kyrgyzstan refugees in Uzbekistan have started to return to their native land. Humanitarian relief materials are being delivered continuously to the region of Osh and Jalalabad. So far some 7,000 refugees have returned home, according to the Kyrgyzstan authorities.
On Sunday, the government forces started to clear barricades in Osh, with no resistance.
The removals of barriers went on calmly, and in some areas people tried to help pull down the roadblocks.
Ethnic clashes broke out in mid-June in southern major city of Osh and later spread to the region of Jalalabad.
Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said during an inspection tour to Osh that the real number was likely 10 times higher, at around 2,000, as many of the victims were buried quickly in keeping with local tradition.
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