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18 people were killed and 243 injured during the unrest in Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic that erupted last week over plans to limit its autonomy, BTA reports, citing Uzbek authorities.

Security forces detained 516 people as they dispersed the protesters last Friday, but have since released many of them, the National Guard press office said.

Yesterday, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev abandoned plans to change articles of the constitution related to Karakalpakstan's autonomy and its right to secede.

The president has declared a one-month state of emergency in the northwestern province.

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According to official figures, on Friday the protesters marched through the streets of Nukus, the capital of the autonomous republic, and tried to seize the local government buildings.

It has led to the worst outbreak of violence in the Central Asian country of 34 million people.

Karakalpakstan is located on the shores of the Aral Sea, which has been an ecological disaster for decades.

The Karakalpaks are an ethnic minority whose language is closer to Kazakh than to Uzbek.

Mirziyoyev today spoke with Kasim-Jomart Tokayev, the president of Kazakhstan, home to the largest Karakalpak diaspora abroad.

Tokayev's office said he welcomed Tashkent's measures to ensure stability in Karakalpakstan.

The unrest in Karakalpakstan that has led to deaths is an "internal matter" for Uzbekistan, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov added that Russia views Uzbekistan as a "friendly country" and the Kremlin has no doubt that the leadership in Tashkent will find a solution to the problem.

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dead and wounded

Uzbekistan