Passport Controls Increased In South Kyrgyzstan

OSH -- Officials in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh Oblast have increased passport controls, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Sources in the local administration informed RFE/RL that the stricter controls were introduced after a group of illegally armed individuals was killed in the region last month.

The group of five clashed with Kyrgyz security forces at the end of last month and were killed.

Kyrgyz officials said that the militants were Uzbek nationals and might have entered Kyrgyz territory from neighboring countries, with the intent of committing terrorist actions in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.