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Russian aid planes land in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan Materials 19 June 2010 08:54 (UTC +04:00)
Two Russian planes carrying aid for Kyrgyz refugees in Uzbekistan landed on Saturday, an emergencies ministry spokesman said, RİA Novosti reported.
Russian aid planes land in Uzbekistan

Two Russian planes carrying aid for Kyrgyz refugees in Uzbekistan landed on Saturday, an emergencies ministry spokesman said, RİA Novosti reported.

The first Il-76 plane landed at 6:02 Moscow time (2:02 GMT), the second - at 6:29 GMT, the source said.

Some 100,000 people fled to Uzbekistan after deadly ethnic clashes in south Kyrgyzstan. Thousands more are waiting on the Kyrgyz side of the border.

Russia plans to send a total of three planes with almost 120 metric tons of cargo, such as tinned meat and fish, infant food, sugar, tents, blankets and utensils.

Violent clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups in southern Kyrgyzstan broke out in the city of Osh on June 11 and then spread to the neighboring Jalalabad region, leaving nearly 200 dead and more than 2,000 injured according to official figures. Kyrgyz leaders admit that the real death toll could be 10 times higher.

According to the World Health Organization's statistics, clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan left up to one million people affected.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday gave instructions to help Uzbekistan accept refugees from Kyrgyzstan.

On Wednesday Russia delivered some 130 metric tons of aid to Kyrgyzstan.

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