By IANS,
New Delhi : India Tuesday sent its first consignment of humanitarian aid for violence-torn Kyrgyzstan.
The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) IL-76 aircraft, carrying around 50 tonnes of food items, medicines and tents, left for Osh in Kyrgyzstan, a spokesperson for IAF said here.
A second IL-76 aircraft with another 50 tonnes of aid material will head for the southern Kyrgyz city, badly hit by ethnic violence that erupted last month, within a week.
A week ago, the Indian government had announced humanitarian aid to those hit by the ethnic violence in the Central Asian republic that left over 400,000 people homeless.
The humanitarian dimension of the crisis hit home when over 100 Indian students were feared trapped at the height of the ethnic violence in mid-June in the southern Kyrgyz cities of Osh and Jalal-abad. The Indian mission chartered a special plane to airlift them to safety.
Clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, who account for about 15 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s population, broke out in the southern city of Osh June 11.
The United Nations has appealed for $71 million in aid for Kyrgyzstan. The US has committed to provide immediate assistance of over $6.5 million.