BISHKEK. April 8 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan's interim government has blamed the Bakiyev administration for the bloodshed in Bishkek.
"The responsibility rests with the authorities," interim government head Roza Otunbayeva said at a news conference.
"The unrest in Bishkek on April 7 is "a reaction to reprisals, tyranny and aggression that was coming from the authorities," she said.
"It could have been a popular revolution, or a popular uprising, or people's rebuff. Whatever it was, we want to say 'no' to tyranny and we want to build democracy," she said.
Otunbayeva also said, citing her sources, that over 60 people were killed when the rally in Bishkek was being broken up.
Earlier Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry reported that 68 people were killed in the unrest in Bishkek and 527 people across the country applied for medical attention.
Acting Defense Minister Ismail Isakov said at the same press conference that the military and Interior Ministry would be in charge of ensuring the country's national security.
He also said that, "practically all armed forces and border services have come under our control."
It had been established at the news conference that patrols would be set up in Bishkek to maintain public order in the city, which had been almost entirely looted and demoralized last night.