Kyrgyzstan’s interim leader asks Russia to send troops to quell ethnic violence

Kyrgyzstan invites Russian troops to end unrest

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Kyrgyzstan’s interim president says her government has asked Russia to send troops to quell ethnic violence that has killed more than 50 people and wounded about 700.

Roza Otunbayeva says without outside help the provisional authorities can’t end violence that has raged since Friday in the southern city of Osh.

She said Saturday she had sent a letter to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev asking him to send in military forces. There has been no response from Russia yet.

Police and soldiers struggled to stop ethnic clashes as gangs of armed young Kyrgyz men marched on Uzbek neighborhoods and fires raged.