Thousands wounded and five dead in rare Uzbekistan protests: reports
- The protests were prompted by planned constitutional changes that would have stripped the Karakalpakstan region of its autonomous status
- President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said rioters had carried out ‘destructive actions’ in the city of Nukus by throwing stones, starting fires and attacking police
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Sunday there were casualties among civilians and police officers after rare protests in the Central Asian country, and an exiled opposition politician said at least five people had been killed.
Separately, a local government official told an Uzbek news website that thousands of people have been hospitalised.
In a statement posted online, Mirziyoyev said rioters had carried out “destructive actions” in the city of Nukus, capital of the northwestern Karakalpakstan region, by throwing stones, starting fires and attacking police.
“Unfortunately there are victims among civilians and law enforcement officers,” he said. The statement did not specify the number and nature of the casualties.
Sultanbek Ziyayev, the head of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, told news website Daryo.uz that hospitals in Nukus were full of patients who had been wounded when protesters clashed with security forces.
“Thousands of wounded have been hospitalised and are being treated,” he said, according to the website.
Photographs from Nukus published on Sunday by another news website, Kun.uz, showed street barricades, burnt-out trucks and a heavy military presence including armoured personnel carriers.
Videos shared on social media showed at least two severely wounded people being carried by their arms and legs. One was bleeding from the abdomen, while the other was screaming.