
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 9, 1990                   TAG: 9006090036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW                                LENGTH: Medium

SOVIET BORDERS REMAIN TENSE

Mobs armed with hoes and pitchforks spread "tension, terror and panic" in and around the Central Asian city of Osh, where nearly a week of ethnic rioting has left 78 people dead, it was reported Friday.

The bloodshed continued in the western part of the republic of Kirghizia, near the border with Uzbekistan, despite thousands of troop reinforcements dispatched to the region by the Defense Ministry.

The president of Uzbekistan declared a state of emergency in border districts in the republic because of what the Tass news agency called "a sharp aggravation of the situation."

No new unrest was reported in the region Friday, the Moslem sabbath, but the situation was said to be tense.

Clashes between ethnic Kirghiz and Uzbeks - both Sunni Moslems - began June 2, and the fighting intensified Monday, Soviet officials said. In dispute is the allocation of plots of land for housing in the densely populated, poverty-stricken region.

A state of emergency was in effect in the Kirghiz border city of Osh, where troops patrolled the streets, and in Frunze.

In addition to the 78 dead, 397 people have been wounded, Tass reported.

Kirghiz Radio said the situation in Osh deteriorated Thursday, when six people were wounded in new outbreaks of gunfire.

Disturbances were reported Thursday in nearby areas, including the Karasusky district, where a mob wielding sticks, hoes and pitchforks attacked a Communist Party building, a hospital and an Internal Ministry building before being stopped by Soviet troops, the report said. The unofficial Interfax news service reported that the party building was burned.

The Interior Ministry said 1,500 soldiers, 900 police and ministry troops and 450 border guards were in Kirghizia to try to quell the fighting.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov declared a state of emergency on his side of the border Friday and sent an urgent telegram to President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, asking the Kremlin to help end the strife.

by CNB