The Number of Dead Increases Each Day in Southern Kyrgyzstan

According to the Kyrgyz official sources, the number of dead as a result of the ethnic tensions in southern Kyrgyzstan has reached 179 (in Osh 132; in Jalal-Abad 47).

As of now there is no precise figure of the dead. According to the Associated Press, the International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman, Christian Cardon, said "we are talking about several hundreds."

According to Al Jazeera, a spokeswoman for the ICRC in Bishkek, Aigul Sigulina, said that "the number of people killed is higher than reported in the media because we have seen massive amounts of people buried.”

Kyrgyzstan's interim President, Roza Otunbayeva, also acknowledged that the real death toll likely was several times higher than official count of 179 people killed, because many victims were buried by their relatives the same day. Nearly 1,900 have been injured, the Kyrgyz Health Ministry said.

Killed young Uzbeks

Otunbayeva claims that many instigators have been detained and they are giving evidence on Bakiyev's involvement in the events.

AP reports that Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva there was evidence the violence was coordinated and began with five simultaneous attacks in Osh by men wearing ski masks.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, also said the fighting "appears to be orchestrated, targeted and well-planned" and urged authorities to act before it spread further.

Kyrgyz Deputy Security Chief, Kubat Baibolov, said that militants from neighboring Tajikistan drove around Osh in vehicles with tinted windows shooting both Uzbeks and Kyrgyz last week to spark the violence.

Baibolov claimed that these militants were employed by people close to the Bakiyev family and that some of the Tajik militants had been detained and testified about their role in the unrest.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 200,000 people had been displaced within the country in addition to 75,000 who had crossed the border into neighboring Uzbekistan.

Tens of thousands of Uzbeks are now in 30 different refugee camps in Uzbekistan, including several camps around the eastern city of Andijan.

Uzbek refugees