By ANDREW E. KRAMER
MOSCOW — A chaotic day of deadly street violence in southern Kyrgyzstan ended Friday with the interim government retaking control of administration buildings in two southern cities.
The buildings were overrun a day earlier by followers of the former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was toppled in an uprising a month ago. The interim government established in the wake of that unrest has consolidated power in the capital, Bishkek, but still has a tenuous hold on the south, the homeland of Mr. Bakiyev.
At least one person was killed and 37 were wounded Friday in exchanges of gunfire between supporters of Mr. Bakiyev and those backing the interim government. Crowds on both sides included dozens of armed men, witnesses said.
The interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, blamed Mr. Bakiyev for the uprising in the south, the most serious challenge yet to the new government. A former adviser of Mr. Bakiyev was arrested and accused of fomenting unrest.
“The former president again spilled the blood of Kyrgyz citizens,” Ms. Otunbayeva said in a statement carried by local news media.
Government officials said Thursday that they would not use police force, but instead would encourage supporters to swarm into the buildings held by armed followers of Mr. Bakiyev. The result was a strange tableau of violence as the pro-government groups — some peaceful and some armed with sticks, rocks and rifles — storming the government buildings while uniformed police officers and special forces largely stayed on the sidelines, witnesses said. The loyalty of those forces in the south has been in question.
Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia, is the home of a base used to supply the United States-led war in Afghanistan.
The turmoil seems likely to continue. The violence is emblematic of the challenges facing the small group of people who proclaimed themselves the interim government. They are unelected and have no formal legitimacy, and it remains unclear whom the police and the army are siding with, particularly in the south.
The danger of violent uprising is heightened because the population is bristling with guns. Legal gun ownership in Kyrgyzstan is restricted to hunting firearms, but many households in rural areas keep Kalashnikov rifles owing to a history of ethnic fighting in the region. Also, an Interior Ministry arsenal was looted during the April 7 uprising, scattering hundreds of small arms.
The worst violence on Friday unfolded in Jalal-Abad, near the former president’s home village.
The first shots there were fired as a group of pro-government protesters walked toward the administration building, Asylbek Tekebayev, a supporter of the interim government, said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Tekebayev said the two sides shot at each other across the city’s central square in front of the administration building, at a distance of about 150 yards.
“It was horrible,” he said. “The bullets were hitting people in the back, in the side, they were falling and tripping, and everybody started to run.” By late afternoon, the crowd, which Mr. Tekebayev said included at least half a dozen men with rifles, regrouped.
The opposing groups also exchanged fire over control of a university building where the pro-Bakiyev group had positioned snipers, according to news agencies, which reported three wounded in that shootout.
The Kyrgyz Health Ministry said hospitals in Jalal-Abad admitted 37 people wounded in the fighting. The ministry said one man had died from gunshot wounds and five were in grave condition.
A political party leader in the south who is loyal to the interim government, Batyrbek Abdrazakov, said that by the evening pro-government groups had full control of the government building, the Interfax news agency reported.
The United States Embassy in Bishkek issued a statement urging restraint on both sides.
“We continue to encourage all parties to refrain from violence and express hope that Kyrgyzstan can move forward on a productive and democratic path,” the statement said.
After the buildings were stormed on Thursday, a committee that said it represented Mr. Bakiyev’s supporters issued a statement in which it claimed to have wide support in the south and called for his return to power.
Demonstrators had shoved their way into buildings not only in Jalal-Abad, but also in Osh and Batken. The three cities are the regional capitals of southern Kyrgyzstan, which is separated from Bishkek and the north of the country by a rugged mountain chain. In Batken, the protesters eventually left the building, though the circumstances were unclear.
After taking over the government building in Osh on Thursday, demonstrators escorted the former governor, Mamasadyk Bakirov, back into his office, which had been occupied by the appointee of the interim government, Sooronbai Zheenbekov. By Friday afternoon, Mr. Zheenbekov was back in his office, the Kabar news agency in Kyrgyzstan reported.
To try to re-establish control over the south, the defense minister, Ismail Isakov, was sent to Osh and granted new powers as a governor general for the three southern districts, according to Edil Baisalov, the interim government’s chief of staff.
After protesters seized government buildings last month in Bishkek, including the president’s office, Mr. Bakiyev fled to the south before going into exile. During that takeover, 86 people died when police officers and soldiers guarding the government buildings in the capital fired at protesters, some of them also armed.
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