Eighteen people were killed and 243 wounded during unrest in Uzbekistan’s autonomous province of Karakalpakstan last week, Uzbek authorities said on Monday — the worst bout of violence in the Central Asian nation in 17 years, CNN informs.
Security forces detained 516 people during the protests, which broke out over plans to curtail Karakalpakstan’s autonomy, but have now released many of them, the National Guard press office told a briefing.
On Saturday, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev dropped plans to amend articles of the constitution concerning Karakalpakstan’s sovereignty and its right to secede. He also declared a month-long state of emergency in the northwestern province.
Official reports said protesters had marched through the provincial capital Nukus last Friday and tried to seize local government buildings.
According to the prosecutor general’s office, 18 people died “from grave wounds” sustained during the clashes. Russia’s RIA news agency quoted the head of the National Guard as saying the toll comprised 14 civilians and four law enforcement officers.
