I have been in Andijan here in Uzbekistan for three weeks covering a story on the oil industry. The recent riots and fighting have been driven by factions who have arrived in Uzbekistan over the last couple of months and begun to call for a radical Islamic government to be installed in place of President Islam Karimov. The outsiders are thought to have come from Afghanistan but full information is hard to come by.

The well organised and planned violence erupted after days of peaceful protest in Andijan, against the imprisonment of 22 men who had been stopping women and trying to force them to adopt more modest dress. Those rioting are not from Andijan and their identity is a mystery.

The had been reports of a mob seizing arms from a local army base before raiding a prison where the men were held and freeing them, but it seems this was untrue. They already had arms with them.

The group seem to be linked Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, who want to overthrow the government amd create a hard line Muslim Republic.