ReliefWeb

I. Introduction

From March to June 2010 Kyrgyzstan experienced major political and social conflict. In April President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown following a violent confrontation with opposition groups that left 86 people dead and many injured. Two months later, ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups clashed in the southern city of Osh. The violence quickly escalated and spread across the south of the country. By the time the violence subsided, official sources reported approximately 470 dead, thousands injured, hundreds of thousands displaced, and houses and businesses across the south extensively damaged. In addition to attracting widespread international and regional attention, the events were subject to unprecedented levels of reporting as they were unfolding, thanks in part to the use of a variety of new and social media—mobile phone text messaging, emailing, photo sharing, social networking, video hosting and the like.