Subject: New hostages and military actions in Southwestern Kyrgyzstan
From: John Schoeberlein (schoeber@fas.harvard.edu)
Date: Tue Aug 24 1999 - 09:04:14 EDT
The situation in the Batken area of Southwestern Kyrgyzstan continues to
worsen. Below, I pass on some information which was forwarded by Richard
Tracy (many thanks to him). It is from the RFE/RL Newsline which is
distributed daily by e-mail -- information on how to subscribe and look at
the archives is included at the end of this message.
On 22 August, additional hostages were taken and the U.S. Embassy in
Bishkek has advised Americans to avoid this area. Everyone should exercise
appropriate caution given the situation.
John Schoeberlein
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 162, Part I, 20 August 1999
UZBEK PRESIDENT SAYS TAJIK AUTHORITIES CANNOT CONTROL
SITUATION... During a break in the 19 August parliamentary
session, President Karimov criticized the government of
neighboring Tajikistan, which, he said, is unable to control
the situation in the eastern part of the country. Noting that
states are obliged to ensure the safety of their borders,
Karimov blamed the Tajik authorities for permitting a group
of armed militants, including ethnic Uzbeks, to cross into
neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where they took four Kyrgyz officials
hostage. Also on 19 August, the Russian Foreign Ministry
expressed its regret at the 15 August bombing by Uzbek combat
aircraft of border districts in Tajikistan, describing that
action as a violation of Tajikistan's sovereignty. The
Russian statement expressed the hope that the raid will not
adversely affect relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The Kyrgyz authorities had asked Uzbekistan to bomb the
region of southern Kyrgyzstan where the guerrillas were
entrenched (see above). LF
..SAYS ETHNIC UZBEKS FIGHTING IN DAGHESTAN. President
Karimov also said that his government knows that an
unspecified number of young Uzbeks are currently fighting in
Daghestan on the side of the Islamists, Interfax reported. He
said the young men concerned had been trained by Jordanian-
born field commander Khottab. LF
erl.org
---RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC ________________________________________________________ RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 160, Part I, 18 August 1999
KYRGYZ OFFICIAL ACCUSES BATKEN GUERILLAS OF PLANNING 'ISLAMIC STATE.' In a telephone interview with RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 17 August, Kyrgyz National Security Ministry spokesman Talant Razzakov claimed that the ethnic Uzbek guerrilla band headed by Juma Namangani aims to create an Islamic state in the Fergana Valley that would include the Andijan, Fergana, and Namangan Oblasts of Uzbekistan and the Leninabad Oblast of Tajikistan. Razzakov estimated the guerrillas' total strength at more than 1,000, and claimed that some of them were trained in Afghanistan. Kyrgyz forces are continuing military action against 21 of Namangani's men who took four Kyrgyz officials hostage in southern Kyrgyzstan on 6 August. The hostages were released on 13 August. LF
UZBEKISTAN CLARIFIES CIRCUMSTANCES OF BOMBING RAIDS. Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov said on 17 August that at the request of the Kyrgyz government, Uzbek combat jets dropped bombs two days earlier on the district of southern Kyrgyzstan in which ethnic Uzbek guerrillas from Tajikistan are entrenched, Interfax reported. Kamilov and Uzbek Security Council Secretary Morakbar Rakhmonkulov said those strikes were justified as the guerrillas had planned to cross into Uzbekistan and stage attacks there. Kamilov admitted that the Uzbek aircraft may have inadvertently dropped bombs on the territory of neighboring Tajikistan, noting that the guerrillas are very close to the frontier between the two countries. Tajikistan on 16 August delivered an official protest to Tashkent over the attack (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 1999). LF ----
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC ________________________________________________________ RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 159, Part I, 17 August 1999
KYRGYZSTAN ADMITS RANSOMING HOSTAGES. Ministry of National Security spokesman Talant Razzakov told an RFE/RL correspondent in Bishkek on 16 August that the Kyrgyz authorities paid $50,000 in cash to obtain the 13 August release of four local guerrillas from Uzbekistan took hostage one week earlier in the southern district of Batken (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 and 16 August 1999). The kidnappers had originally demanded a $1 million payment. Razzakov also said that Defense Ministry forces have begun a military operation with the aim of neutralizing the guerrillas. Razzakov confirmed that Uzbek planes bombed some mountainous areas in Batken on 15 August as well as Tajikistan's neighboring Djirgatal district in an attempt to hit the guerillas. He did not elaborate. According to "Vechernii Bishkek" of 16 August, the Uzbek bombing raid was coordinated with the Kyrgyz leadership. LF
UZBEKISTAN DENIES ITS PLANES BOMBED TAJIK TERRITORY. Tajikistan's Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov on 16 August lodged an official complaint with Uzbekistan's ambassador in Dushanbe, Bakhtiar Urdashev, following an incident the previous day in which four jets approaching from Kyrgyz airspace dropped eight bombs on Tajikistan's Djirgatal district, Russian agencies reported. Buildings were destroyed and some 100 sheep and cattle killed, but there were no human casualties. Djirgatal is close to the border with Kyrgyzstan's Osh Oblast, where guerrillas from Tajikistan, some of them reportedly ethnic Uzbeks, took four Kyrgyz officials hostage last week (see above). The Uzbek Foreign Ministry denied any knowledge of the bombing. LF
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