BISHKEK. June 21 (Interfax) - Two people were killed and 17 injured during a police operation in the village of Nariman populated by ethnic Uzbeks in Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan, Anna Neistat from Human Rights Watch told Interfax on Monday.
She said she was at the Nariman district hospital that has been receiving people injured in the operation to remove barricades put up by local residents.
Quoting the injured, Neistat said that police officers and army personnel moving in groups of 15-20 entered the homes of local residents, demanded documents and beat people up.
She said that the exact number of people injured in the operation was unknown as ambulances and human rights activists were not allowed to enter the village.
Quoting local residents, Neistat said that the law enforcers persistently asked who had killed the chief of the Karasui district police.
The police chief and his driver were killed in Nariman a week ago.
Local residents told Interfax that the steps of the law enforcers resulted from the reluctance of the villagers to remove the barricades that they had set up.
"The authorities gave them time to remove the barricades and surrender weapons but they did not fulfill these requirements in due time," one person said.
Eyewitnesses said that police and army teams tried to enter the village to conduct a sweep but faced armed resistance. An exchange of fire broke out after which at least 20 people were taken to hospital.
Earlier the commandant's office of Osh insisted that the conflicting sides clear the city of barricades by June 18 so that law enforcers could check the neighborhoods and start accepting weapons from the population.
Meanwhile, a statement of the military commandant of Osh region says that on Monday "formations of the police, Interior Troops and other militarized structures of the country assigned to the commandant of Osh region with the purpose of guaranteeing the state of emergency conducted a special preventive operation in Nariman."
"In the course of the operation homesteads were visited and the IDs of residents checked. As a result two RGD-5 hand grenades, over 40 cartridges for an Kalashnikov assault rifle and three Molotov cocktails were discovered. Seven people were detained. Teams of operatives are screening residents for involvement in crimes," the statement posted on the Interior Ministry website says.
"A commandant's section was set up with the purpose of guaranteeing the safety of the public and the full-scale functioning of the infrastructure. It will operate in close interaction with the residents of the village of Nariman," the statement says.
"A meeting with elders and residents of Nariman was organized for explanatory purposes. It was attended by commandant of Osh region Maj. Gen. Aktybek Alymbekov, Deputy Prosecutor General of Kyrgyzstan Ryskul Baktyubayev and head of Karasui district administration Baiysh Yusupov," the statement says.
"People's militia is being formed together with the public in the village of Nariman. Arriving humanitarian aid is being distributed," the statement says.
Later the commandant's office confirmed the death of one villager who had offered resistance to law enforcers during the sweep.
"Army and police formations were sent to Nariman. The residents of the community were warned a day in advance and told to clear the roads and remove the barricades. They removed part of the barriers. When the Skorpion special unit was conducting a sweep in one of the sectors someone made a shot at them. A member of the special unit fired in reply. One person was killed. We regard this as resistance. The officer's actions were justified," 24.kg news agency was told at the commandant's office.