Russian officials say that Moscow has sent extra troops to Kyrgyzstan as ethnic violence in the South of the country worsens. The troops will guard military base in the north. The Kyrgyz Government had appealed for Russian intervention but Moscow has said it would not act alone. Russian officials have been quoted as saying that the Role of the Russian troops is to protect the base as well as servicemen and their families stationed there. At the moment, the violence is confined to the south of the country hundreds of kilometers away. Although there has been a direct appeal by the Kyrgyz Government for Russia to intervene militarily, Moscow has so far refused to act alone. Instead it expects the issue to be discussed today by members of the Regional Security Organisation made up of former Soviet Republics. The Organisation is led by Russia.