KARADARIYA, Kyrgyzstan, May 23 (UPI) -- President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan says 32 Uzbek troops and 137 others were killed during a protest, but opposition leaders put the total near 750.
Karimov has said troops were fighting Islamic militants May 13 and any civilians were killed either by accident or at the hands of the militants.
However, the opposition Free Peasants Party says at least 745 civilians died in Andijon and Pakhtaabad.
The Vienna-based International Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights said Uzbek troops may have killed 1,000 unarmed people and injured 2,000 more, the New York Times reported from Karadariya, Kyrgyzstan, Monday.
Determining the casualties has been difficult because Uzbekistan has blocked free travel by diplomats, human rights investigators and journalists seeking access to Andijon.
A photographer working for the New York Times visited the Andijon region, without the Uzbek government's knowledge, and said the fatalities from the demonstration may be in the hundreds.
