Heightened Security, Calm Kyrgyz Elections in Osh

Armed security forces patrolled the streets and armored personnel carriers parked at key intersections in Osh on October 10 as voters went to the polls to elect their first parliament since June's ethnic violence, which pitted ethnic Kyrgyz against ethnic Uzbeks, in the country's southwest.

Turnout in many of the city's polling stations was so heavy that several of the clear ballot boxes were already full by late morning.

Despite fears of possible conflict, Osh remained quiet while women in colorful silk scarves and men wearing traditional Kyrgyz and Uzbek hats dropped the completed ballots featuring 29 parties into sealed containers bearing the national symbol of the Central Asian country.