Russian paratroopers recalled from Kyrgyzstan
MOSCOW. July 8. KAZINFORM Russian paratroopers have returned to their home base in Russia from Kyrgyzstan, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Thursday; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
Russia sent additional paratroopers to the Central Asian state amid bloody interethnic riots in the republic's south. Clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks claimed the lives of up to 300 people, according to official figures, with an unofficial death toll exceeding 2,000.
The paratroopers were sent in mid-June to enhance security at Russia's Kant military base in the country's north, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the capital, Bishkek.
A total of 270 troops have been recalled from Kyrgyzstan as tensions in the republic have eased, Alexander Cherednik said. Two more paratrooper companies remained at the base, he said.
More than 1,500 people were displaced by the June unrest in the Central Asian republic. A state of emergency was declared in the Jalalabad region and several districts of the Osh region, where the clashes took place; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti.
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