Uzbekistan’s prosecutor’s office said on Monday that 18 people died during last week’s riots in the Karkal-i-Karkal-i-Pakhstan Autonomous Region to protest planned constitutional changes affecting the region’s status.
“18 people died as a result of severe injuries during major riots in the regression” of the regional capital, RIA Novosti reports citing prosecutor Abror Mamatov. On Sunday, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev acknowledged civilian and police “casualties” after demonstrations held Friday and Saturday against a draft constitutional amendment that would reduce autonomy in the impoverished Karkal-e-Pakhistan region in the country’s northwest. countries. However, the course of events is still not clear, since during the confrontations the authorities turned off most of the means of communication. But some videos leaked online showed injured and unconscious people.
On Saturday, a state of emergency was declared in the region for a month. In parallel, the President of Uzbekistan promised to withdraw the constitutional amendments under consideration. The President accused the organizers of the rallies of “hiding behind political slogans”, while trying to “control the official bodies of local self-government” and seize weapons. The clashes pose the biggest challenge to Mirziyoyev’s 64-year rule as he took office as prime minister in 2016 after the death of Islam Karimov, who had ruled Uzbekistan since its independence from the Soviet Union.
