Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

14 women and children held hostage have been freed, but some 20 more Kyrgyz citizens are still being held in the Uzbek enclave of Sokh, Kyrgyz region Batken's governor Jenish Razakov said, 24.kg website reported on Monday.

Kyrgyz news agency AKIpress reported earlier that several hundred Sokh residents on Sunday attacked a border guard base where they took Kyrgyz citizens hostage.

According to the report, the incident began when a large group of residents from the Uzbek village of Khushyar attacked Kyrgyz frontier guards who were erecting supports for electricity transmission lines in the Batken region. The villagers tried to seize firearms from the frontier guards, injuring some of them, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"Negotiations are underway to free the remaining hostages," Razakov was quoted by 24.kg as saying. "Their number is about 20. The situation is under control. One of the Kyrgyz police officers was beaten, he is now in hospital and his health condition is satisfactory."

Razakov added that the health condition of the released hostages is normal.

All frontier posts on the Uzbek border were closed in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Meanwhile, a headquarters was set up in the region to stabilize the situation under the leadership of the Batken region governor.

Batken Prosecutor's Office has filed two criminal cases on charges of hostage-taking and attacks on a military unit.

There were clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan, primarily in the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad in 2010.

Uzbekistan launched a limited troop incursion early on, but withdrew and opened its borders to Uzbek refugees. The clashes killed up to 2,000 people, mostly Uzbeks, and another 100,000 were displaced.