C-130 planes to rescue Pakistanis trapped in Kyrgyzstan
SUKKUR / TOBA TEK SINGH/ ISLAMABAD: Three C-130 planes will take off any time on Monday to bring back Pakistanis trapped in Kyrgyzstan, government sources told DawnNews.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi denied reports suggesting that 10 Pakistani students had been taken hostage during ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan. He further said that some 30 to 40 students had reached to safer places in Osh.
He said some 269 Pakistani students were trapped in and around Osh.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the FO was in constant contact with Kyrgyz officials.
“The Pakistani embassy in Bishkek is trying to gather all nationals toward the airport in Osh,” he added.
Two Pakistani students were killed and at least 10 others were reportedly taken hostage during the violence.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan's Ambassador to Pakistan on Monday said only one Pakistani was killed during the clashes.
"According to our information, 200 Pakistani students were currently trapped in Kyrgyzstan," the ambassador said.
Ubaidullah Ansari, a student of medical science at the Osh State University, who has returned to Jacobabad, told Dawn on Sunday that more than 500 Pakistanis were stranded in the Central Asian state.
He said a female student of final year at a medical university and Ali Raza, a fourth-year student of engineering, were killed and more than a dozen others taken hostage in the south of Kyrgyzstan.
Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Minister Qureshi said the government was in touch with Kyrgyz officials to gain access to Pakistanis and ensure their evacuation.
“We have conveyed our concern to the Kyrgyz government and are trying to contact the students in order to get them safely evacuated.”
Talking to PTV, Mr Qureshi said “our first priority is to ensure the safety of our brethren stranded there”.
Mr Ansari said he and his friends had gone for a picnic to Uzgin, 30km from Osh, on June 8, as summer vacations had begun at their university on June 1.
When they were returning to Osh on Thursday, they saw many buildings, shops and vehicles on fire and army personnel patrolling streets.
They contacted their friends by phone and were advised not to enter the city.
Mr Ansari said he and 14 other students hired taxis to reach Bishkek and took a flight of the Uzbek Airlines for Lahore.
In reply to a question, he said the students had been instructed to carry their passports whenever they went out and their visas were valid till October.
Ali Raza, the Pakistani student who lost his life, hailed from a village in Toba Tek Singh district.
Abdul Qayum Jatt, his father, told reporters that Ali Raza was a final-year student of an engineering university in Osh city.
Ali Raza was at his home when a mob belonging to an ethnic group shot him. Local people and Pakistanis tried to take him to a hospital, but he died on the way.
Mr Raza’s parents live in Rehmat Colony, near Shorkot cantonment, where they own a cotton ginning factory.
His father said he did not know when the body would arrive.
Fida Hussain Jalalani of Khairpur, a fourth-year student at the Osh State University, urged the government to save the lives of Pakistani students.
Agencies add:
The foreign minister said that around 1,200 to 1,500 Pakistanis, mostly students, lived in Kyrgyzstan.
Many of them had returned to Pakistan for summer vacations, but some had stayed back to take examinations, he said.
Mr Qureshi said the situation in the Central Asian state was worrying and the Kyrgyz government appeared helpless.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The ambassador of Pakistan in Bishkek is in constant touch with Kyrgyz authorities to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani nationals in and around the city of Osh.
“The embassy of Pakistan in Bishkek is maintaining close touch with Pakistani students in Osh. The ministry of foreign affairs will also take up the matter with the Kyrgyz embassy in Islamabad.”
Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation had expressed concern over the situation and efforts were being made for holding a referendum in the country, which would be followed by elections, the foreign minister added.
Trapped Indians:
According to reports, over 100 Indians, mostly students, were also trapped in Osh.
The Indian mission was in close contact with the trapped individuals as well as with the Kyrgyz foreign ministry and other concerned authorities to ensure their safety.
Russian troops:
Russia sent hundreds of paratroopers to Kyrgyzstan on Sunday to protect its military facilities, Interfax news agency reported, as ethnic clashes spread in the Central Asian state.
The death toll from several days of fighting has risen to 113.
