Thousands of Uzbeks flee ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan

Ethnic Uzbeks gather near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border in southern Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday, June 12, 2010, trying to seek refuge in Uzbekistan from mobs of Kyrgyz men attacking the minority Uzbek community.

The country's second-largest city, Osh, slid into chaos on Friday when gangs of young Kyrgyz men armed with firearms and metal rods marched on Uzbek neighborhoods and set their homes on fire.

Thousands of terrified ethnic Uzbeks were fleeing towards the nearby border with Uzbekistan. (AP Photo)

Ethnic Uzbeks gather near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border in southern Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday, June 12, 2010. (AP Photo)

Uzbekistan's soldiers and security officers assist ethnic Uzbeks, fleeing southern Kyrgyzstan, to cross the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border Saturday, June 12, 2010. (AP Photo)

Ethnic Uzbeks gather near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border in southern Kyrgyzstan. (AP Photo)

Smoke rises from the burning villages of ethnic Uzbek set on fire by the Kyrgyz attackers, in villages near Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan on Saturday, June 12, 2010. (AP Photo)

Ethnic Uzbeks try to extinguish fire in their burning house, torched by Kyrgyz men, in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan, Sunday, June 13, 2010. Kyrgyz mobs burned Uzbek villages and slaughtered their residents Sunday as ethnic rioting engulfed new areas in southern Kyrgyzstan.

The government ordered troops to shoot rioters dead but even that failed to stop the spiraling violence. (AP Photo)

Members of ethnic Uzbek community armed with sticks and Molotov cocktails to protect their lives and property look at smoke rising from the burning Uzbek villages set on fire by the Kyrgyz attackers near Osh. (AP Photo)

Members of ethnic Uzbek community armed with sticks and hunting rifles to protect their lives and property guard a road to an Uzbek residence near Osh on Saturday (AP Photo)

Ethnic Uzbeks residences burn after being torched by Kyrgyz men, in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan, Sunday, June 13, 2010. In Jalal-Abad on Sunday, thousands of Kyrgyz men brandishing sticks, metal bars and hunting rifles gathered at the city's horse racing track and marched out to burn Uzbek property while frightened police stayed away. (AP Photo)

Clothes pegs hang on a rope in the foreground as an Uzbeks' residence burns after being torched by Kyrgyz men, in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan. (AP Photo)

With a burning car in the foreground, a few local residents venture into a near empty street in Jalal-Abad. (AP Photo)

A burned out car stands outside a burnt Uzbeks' residence in Jalal-Abad. (AP Photo)

A burned out Uzbeks' residence smolders after being torched by Kyrgyz men in Jalal-Abad Sunday. (AP Photo)

People walk along a street with burned houses in Kyrgyzstan's second-largest city of Osh. (AP Photo)

An ethnic Uzbek reportedly shot by Kyrgyz military during morning clashes, is treated for his wounds at the Naramon Regional Hospital in the village of Naramon, near Osh airport, southern Kyrgyzstan. (AP Photo)

An ethnic Uzbek reportedly injured during morning clashes, is being treated for his wounds at the Naramon Regional Hospital in the village of Naramon. (AP Photo)

People carry a 14 year old boy; an ethnic Uzbek reportedly shot in the head by a sniper during recent clashes.. (AP Photo)

A boy, an ethnic Uzbek reportedly shot by the Kyrgyz security service during recent clashes, seen in a hospital in the village of Naramon, Kyrgyzstan. (AP Photo)

One of the members of local ethnic Uzbek community armed with Molotov cocktails guards an entrance to an Uzbek residence near Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday, June 12, 2010.

The letters "SOS" at the residence gates were painted by the inhabitants in a futile bid for help from the violence that began late Thursday. (AP Photo)

Felled trees block an empty street in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan, Sunday, June 13, 2010, after ethnic rioting engulfed the city. The poster at left announces a constitutional referendum on June 27.

Thousands of Kyrgyz men brandishing sticks, metal bars and hunting rifles gathered at the city's horse racing track and marched out to burn Uzbek property while frightened police stayed away. Uzbeks felled trees on the city's main thoroughfare, trying to stem their advance. (AP Photo)