[Nemesis6]

138 dead in ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan so far! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_South_Kyrgyzstan_riots

[Dilmah G]

What the ****?! I didn't even know this country existed!

[BlueFlames]

What the ****?! I didn't even know this country existed!

Welcome to America, where we know that the Soviet Union dissolved, but we don't know what it became afterward (or what it was composed of prior).

In any case, it seems like Kyrgyzstan is on its way toward a split like Yugoslavia had in the 1990's.  Unlike Yugoslavia, though, there's a Russian and an American air base in Kyrgyzstan, so the superpowers have a vested interest in restoring the status quo.  Of course, after Russia's little invasion of Georgia in 2008 and their repeated stoppages of heating oil to the Ukraine, I wouldn't be surprised if Putin and Medvedev were stirring the pot, just to keep another former Soviet republic down.  Putin's denied Russian involvement, but that's exactly why I suspect it.

[iamzack]

who cares, they have too many Ys in their name

[General Battuta]

I have a friend from there. She's really cool. I hope she's okay.

[headdie]

i'll tell you why you (like me) have never heard of it, you have Kazakhstan on its northern border, Afghanistan next country but one to the south and China on the eastern border all hogging the lime light

[Nuclear1]

Yeah, I was deployed when this started.  Actually just returning from a mission over Afghanistan when we first got word. 

You know, if ISAF or NATO wanted to regain its image as a humanitarian force...here's our opportunity.

There were at least 170 people left dead by Tuesday but Pascale Meige Wagner of the international committee for Red Cross said the [official] death toll was an unestimate. The UN high commissioner told the reporters in Geneva that the evidence suggested that the violence seemed to have been staged up. The United Nations called for a “humanitarian corridor” to be set up to help the people affected by the riots described the situation as a “tinder-box”.

[Scotty]

Up next on Balkans: Central Asia....

 

[Nemesis6]

Yeah, I was deployed when this started.  Actually just returning from a mission over Afghanistan when we first got word. 

You know, if ISAF or NATO wanted to regain its image as a humanitarian force...here's our opportunity.

There were at least 170 people left dead by Tuesday but Pascale Meige Wagner of the international committee for Red Cross said the [official] death toll was an unestimate. The UN high commissioner told the reporters in Geneva that the evidence suggested that the violence seemed to have been staged up. The United Nations called for a “humanitarian corridor” to be set up to help the people affected by the riots described the situation as a “tinder-box”.

It actually is a perfect chance. The airmen of the Manas Airbase(sorry, Manas Transit Center) have actually assisted the locals with a lot of things before, including contruction, so...