Uzbek troops have regained control of state buildings in the eastern city of Andizhan after extremists stormed them Friday, the government declared despite reports of fireshots at dawn Saturday.

"The situation in Andizhan is fully under control," the presidential press service said after days of riots plunged the Central Asian nation's fourth-largest city into chaos, leaving at least 10 dead and nearly 40 others wounded.

According to an official statement, rioters briefly seized buildings including government offices and educational institutions early Friday in the city of 350,000, before the law- enforcement bodies took action to restore order. Hostages taken by the attackers at a building were released by security forces.

Rioters were said to have stormed a local jail, setting free 2, 000 inmates, of whom 23 were being on trial for links to the outlawed radical Islamic party Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which the government holds responsible for murdering dozens of people in Uzbekistan last year.

Armed protesters had rallied in the city since Wednesday to demand the release of the 23 who had pleaded not guilty at the trial that opened in February.

Violence on Friday culminated the days of protest with witnesses reporting vehicles and a theater being set ablaze and bloodshed in clashes near the downtown square.

President Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov rushed to Andizhan with several senior officials during the day to calm down the situation.

Officials said Karimov was unlikely to meet with participants in the rally of violence, although one of the organizers of the protest said Interior Minister Zakir Almatov had contacted them to know what they were demanding and whether they could hold negotiations.

Late Friday, the presidential press service announced: "No state of emergency was imposed in the town, (and) government offices, marketplaces and educational institutions are functioning. "

A spokesman for the Uzbek National Security Service also declared all executive bodies in the region were functioning as usual.

Witnesses reported a night of relative calm before bursts of gunfire at dawn Saturday. There has been no official comments on the latest development or casualties.

The situation in the former Soviet republic has caused worldwide concern after governments collapsed in three other former Soviet republics -- Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan -- in the past year and half.

"The people of Uzbekistan want to see a more representative and democratic government. But that should come through peaceful means, not through violence, and that's what our message is," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The Central Asian nation of 26 million people hosts a US air base after the war in neighboring Afghanistan in 2001.

Russia also said Friday it is closely watching the developments in Andizhan, condemning the use of force by extremists in the protests.

"Russia is concerned with the unrest in Andizhan, Uzbekistan, with which Russia maintains a strategic partnership, and Russia supports the Uzbek government in its efforts to stabilize the situation there," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.

Russia condemns the use of force and unconstitutional means by extremists in Uzbekistan to achieve their political goals, Yakovenko added.

Source: Xinhua