Kyrgyz Officials Order Uzbeks to Remove Barriers

The Kyrgyz authorities demanded on Saturday that makeshift roadblocks that have turned this distressed city into a patchwork of no man’s lands be removed, setting up a confrontation with ethnic Uzbeks that could lead to more bloodshed. The mayor of this southern city issued an ultimatum that Uzbeks voluntarily dismantle the barricades they have sheltered behind by Sunday night or force would be used to eliminate the barriers, some made with the wreckage of trucks destroyed in the rioting, minibuses and large boulders. The Uzbeks have been holed up in their neighborhoods for days in the wake of the ethnic violence that killed thousands and caused a massive refugee crisis. The violence has severely destabilized Kyrgyzstan, a poor former Soviet republic that has a strategic location in Central Asia. The United States has a military base in the country that plays a significant role in supporting the NATO mission in Afghanistan.