UN seeks over $71 mn for relief in Kyrgyzstan

The UN has asked governments for more than $71 million to provide life-saving assistance to over one million people displaced or affected by the fighting in Kyrgyzstan.

The UN has asked governments for more than $71 million to provide life-saving assistance to over one million people displaced or affected by the fighting in Kyrgyzstan.

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An estimated 300,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in southern Kyrgyzstan in the past week and up to 765,300 others are otherwise affected, including communities that are hosting the displaced or towns and villages devastated by the violence, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said.

"I have been shocked by the extent of the violence and appalled by the deaths and injuries, widespread arson, sexual violence, looting of state, commercial and private property and destruction of infrastructure," said John Holmes, the top UN official for humanitarian affairs.

"So the needs are very great," Holmes said. The UN has allocated $8 million, drawing from its Central Emergency Response Fund, to kick-start humanitarian assistance in Kyrgyzstan.

The UN said tens of thousands of people, most of them Uzbeks, have fled to Uzbekistan or to neighbouring countries. Kyrgyzstan has a population of 5.2 million.