19 die in anti-US attacks

At least 19 people were killed in a series of explosions and shoot-outs in Uzbekistan in terrorist actions aimed at splitting the US-led anti-terror coalition, officials said yesterday.


Another 26 people were wounded in the ancient city of Bukhara and the capital Tashkent. The dead included two suicide bombers and 10 bomb makers.

The Uzbek government, which has been a US ally in the war against terrorism, blamed the attacks on the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, which had not been linked to terror acts.

But the group, which has a strong base of support in Uzbekistan and members across Central Asia, denied involvement in the attacks.