Five Pakistani medical students were injured in a mob attack on foreign students in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Pakistan’s ambassador to Kyrgyzstan said on Saturday.
Violent clashes have erupted between student groups in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek, with reports of attackers using batons. The attackers forcefully entered the hostel rooms and wounded several international students including Pakistanis.
“Five Pakistani students were injured in the mob violence. One of them is admitted in a local hospital with some jaw injuries, while four others were released after first aid,” Hasan Zaigham, Pakistan’s ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, told Arab News over the phone.
The violence reportedly erupted due to a harassment incident involving Egyptian female students on May 13.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s embassy in Kyrgyzstan issued an advisory to the Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to stay indoors.
“In view of mob violence around student hostels in Bishkek, the embassy strongly advise all Pakistani students in Bishkek to stay indoors until the situation return to normal,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Hasan Zaigham wrote on X, formerly Twitter, early on Saturday.
“We are liaising with the local law enforcement authorities to ensure safety of our student fraternity.”
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokeswoman for the Pakistani foreign office, said the Pakistani embassy had responded to hundreds of queries by students and their families.