Andijan sometimes spelled Andijon or Andizhan

May 2005 massacre

Main article: Andijan massacre

On 13 May 2005, Uzbekistan's military opened fire on a mass of people who were protesting against poor living conditions and corrupt government.^[8][9][10] The estimates of those killed on 13 May range from 187, the official count of the government, to several hundred.^[8][11] A defector from the SNB alleged that 1,500 were killed.^[12] The bodies of many of those who died were allegedly hidden in mass graves following the massacre.^[13]

The Uzbek government at first stated that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan organized the unrest and that the protesters were members of Hizb ut-Tahrir.^[14] Critics have argued that the radical Islamist label has been just a pretext for maintaining a repressive regime in the country.

Whether troops fired indiscriminately to prevent a colour revolution or acted legitimately to quell a prison break is also disputed.^{[15][16][17][18]} Another theory is that the dispute was really an inter-clan struggle for state power.^[10] The Uzbek government eventually acknowledged that poor economic conditions in the region and popular resentment played a role in the uprising.^[19]