It also declared a partial mobilisation of the army to combat "destructive forces and criminal elements".

Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have been fleeing what they say are ethnic Kyrgyz gangs in the southern city of Osh.

Almost 1,000 people were also hurt in the worst unrest since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's overthrow in April.

Russia says it does not plan to intervene despite a Kyrgyz request.

The south of Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet Central Asian state of 5.5 million people, is home to an ethnic Uzbek minority of almost one million.

The latest violence has become the biggest challenge for the new government so far.