At least 75 dead in Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes: ministry

At least 75 people have been killed and almost 1,000 wounded during ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, the health ministry said on Saturday.

At least 75 people have been killed and almost 1,000 wounded during ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, the health ministry said on Saturday.

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"In the Jalalabad and Osh regions on June 12 as a result of the clashes, 977 people have been wounded and 75 people killed," it said in a statement.

Kyrgyzstan's provisional government led by Roza Otunbayeva has struggled to impose order in the Central Asian state since seizing control during riots that ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev earlier this year.

Witnesses said brawls had broken out between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbek groups in Osh, once the stronghold of Bakiyev.