OCHA Situation Report No. 1
Kyrgyzstan Earthquake

Situation

1. At 2 a.m. local time on 26 December 2006, an earthquake struck Kochkor area, Naryn region, some 140 km south-east of the capital Bishkek. Local reports indicated a magnitude of 5.5 in the Richter scale. The earthquake was also felt in neighboring Kazakhstan.

2. The UN Resident Coordinator in Bishkek immediately established contact with the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Preliminary information received by the Government indicate mainly damage

Explanatory Memorandum

1 - Rationale, needs and target population.

1.1. - Rationale :

According to Article 2(f) of Humanitarian Aid Regulation (EC) of 20 June 1996(2), DG ECHO's(3) activities in the field of Disaster Preparedness shall be "to ensure preparedness for risks

By Dadodjan Azimov in London (RCA No. 473, 1-Dec-06)

A spate of violent incidents in the Fergana Valley this year has sparked concern that militant Islamic groups are undergoing a resurgence. The violence, focusing on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border region, has been cited by officials as proof that the paramilitary Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is back in action and the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir group has taken up arms.

By Aziza Turdueva in Bishkek (RCA No. 472, 21-Nov-06)

Refugees who fled to Kyrgyzstan following violence in the Uzbek city of Andijan last year face an uncertain future in their new homeland, with many living in poverty and in fear that they will be forced back to Uzbekistan.

At least 800 refugees crossed the border in the days following May 13, 2005, when Uzbek troops opened fire on unarmed protesters.

So far, 440 have since been sent to other

By IWPR staff in Dushanbe (RCA No. 466, 29-Sep-06)

Tajikistan's security services say their country faces a significant threat from Islamic militants, but insist they are well able to deal with any challenge. What is less clear is just how organised and dangerous any armed extremist groups are.

Tajikistan's recent history has involved a lot of conflict: it went through a five-year civil war ending in 1997, and in 1999-2001 its northern regions were used by the banned paramilitary

By IWPR staff in London (RCA No. 463, 8-Sep-06)

The Uzbek authorities are tearing a swathe through the eastern town of Qorasuv to create a security zone on the border with Kyrgyzstan, and residents say they are not being offered adequate compensation.

The border runs along the river Shahrikhansay, which cuts straight through the town. The opposite bank is Kyrgyzstan, and the town there is known as Karasuu. The house clearance programme is

The chief of Kyrgyzstan's National Security Service, Lt. Gen. Busurmankul Tabaldiyev, announced September 4 that a series of special operations had succeeded in eliminating the leadership of the Islamic Party of Turkestan, which has been blamed for carrying out raids on border posts in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan last May.

Radical groups "are now left with

ANKARA, 29 August (IRIN) - The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) plans to move a group of Uzbek asylum seekers from southern Kyrgyzstan to the capital, Bishkek, to protect them.

Carlos Zaccagnini, head of the UNHCR's mission in Bishkek, said on Tuesday that it had offered to relocate some of the refugees pending the determination of their status and likely resettlement to third countries.

Zaccagnini's comments came after five

By Taalaibek Amanov in Bishkek for IWPR (RCA No. 462, 26-Aug-06)

International groups have voiced concern that the Kyrgyz authorities is quietly returning refugees and asylum-seekers to Uzbekistan in contravention of international law.

Kyrgyzstan won international plaudits last year for allowing 440 people who fled following the May 13 violence in the Uzbek city of Andijan, where journalists and human rights groups