Kyrgyzstan's interim leader Rosa Otunbayeva said today that the death toll from savage ethnic violence in the south of the country could be as high as 2,000, as she paid her first visit to the region since the unrest began.

Otunbayeva, who pledged that the hundreds of thousands of Uzbek refugees would be allowed to return home, told Russian media that she would "multiply by 10" the official death toll of 191.

Without mentioning the Uzbek community by name, Otunbayeva said the wrecked city of Osh would be rebuilt. After arriving by military helicopter, she visited Osh's inter-regional hospital, where Kyrgz victims of the conflict are being treated.

But there was still no sign of aid deliveries for the ethnic Uzbeks whose homes have been razed, with packages apparently being distributed only to Kyrgyz victims.

Across the street from the hospital, and standing next to their gutted homes, Uzbek men said they had received no help. "We appeal to the international community to help us. We need Americans or British to give us aid. We have nothing, our homes have been destroyed, and our women and children are now in camps in Afghanistan," Davron, 32, said.

The former Soviet republic has been rocked by unrest since a revolt in April toppled the president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev and brought the interim government to power. Some 400,000 people out of Kyrgyzstan's population of 5.3 million have fled since 10 June, some to refugee camps in neighbouring Uzbekistan.

The US assistant secretary of state, Robert Blake, flew to inspect refugee camps on the Uzbek side of the border, where a stable security situation has allowed authorities to set up more orderly camps to house about 100,000 people.

In one camp, lined with rows of tents marked with the United Nations logo, dozens of women, many in tears, surrounded Blake, who was later due to fly to Kyrgyzstan.

"It is important to establish peace for your safe return," he told them through an interpreter." An investigation should be carried out to prevent this in the future."

Otunbayeva, whose government has not been formally elected, has accused Bakiyev of organising gangs of armed men to shoot at both Uzbeks and Kyrgyz to ignite ethnic violence in the south, Bakiyev's traditional stronghold. Both ethnic groups have suffered in the violence but losses on the Uzbek side are considerably greater.

In Osh, where streets are strewn with rubble and still echoing with occasional gunfire, Uzbek neighbourhoods have set up barricades separating them from Kyrgyz areas. Sporadic attacks have continued but major violence has subsided since Monday. Some residents started venturing out of their homes to pick through the wreckage.

"Osh residents are in urgent need of protection and humanitarian assistance," Human Rights Watch said. "The tense security situation, barricades and checkpoints have significantly limited distribution of aid, medical supplies and access to medical treatment."

The government hopes to stick to its plan to hold a constitutional referendum on 27 June.