Russian troops will be deployed to guard some strategic sites in Kyrgyzstan, the Central Asian country's interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said in comments on national radio yesterday.

"Russian troops will guard some strategic sites in Kyrgyzstan," Ms Otunbayeva said. "This decision has been taken to ensure security for these sites."

A Kremlin spokesman, speaking yesterday, could not confirm the report.

"The troops have been sent there to protect a military base," the spokesman said.

A Russian defence ministry spokesman declined immediate comment. Ms Otunbayeva had previously asked Russia to send troops to intervene as peacekeepers and help quell ethnic clashes that exploded in the Central Asian state a week ago.

Moscow quickly dispatched humanitarian aid but rejected Ms Otunbayeva's request for military help, saying the violence was an internal affair that had to be brought under control by the government of Kyrgyzstan.

Ms Otunbayev several days later withdrew her request, saying peacekeepers were not needed. Kyrgyzstan is on edge after a week of violent inter-ethnic clashes that Ms Otunbayeva admitted might have killed nearly 2,000 people. The official death toll now stands at 192. "I would increase the official death toll from southern Kyrgyzstan by ten times," Ms Otunbayeva said on radio.

The interim Kyrgyz leader, who has already pointed a finger of blame for the unrest in the south at ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his supporters, said those behind the violence may be planning more of it elsewhere.