Kyrgyzstan's interim government on Saturday extended the state of emergency and curfew to the Jalalabad region, as unrest spread in the south beyond the second largest city of Osh.

"The situation there (in Jalalabad) is not good, crowds are gathering, shots were heard. These are echoes of the events in Osh," government spokesman Farid Niyazov told Reuters.

"The residents are worried ... The decision has been taken ... The curfew will be introduced from today."

The interim government in Kyrgyzstan, which hosts U.S. and Russian military bases, has appealed for Russian help to stop ethnic fighting that has killed at least 65 in the worst violence since the president was toppled in April.

The south is home to supporters of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. It has also historically seen ethnic clashes between the Kyrgyz and the Uzbeks, the latter of whom comprise about 40 percent of the 1 million population in the Jalalabad region and about 50 percent in the neighbouring region of Osh.

Reuters