BISHKEK (TASS) – The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, where a conflict between the residents of the border regions of the two states took place on Wednesday, has aggravated, the Kyrgyz Border Service of the State Committee for National Security reported on Thursday.

The statement said:

In the border area of the Batken region, namely in the Kocho-Boyu area of the Batken region, the situation has aggravated. The aggravation of the situation was caused by the provocative actions of the citizens of Tajikistan, who started throwing stones at the citizens of Kyrgyzstan and their homes.

According to the border department, “the Tajik side began to fire at passing cars of Kyrgyz citizens from hunting rifles.”

The report notes that, according to preliminary data, there are 4 victims among the citizens of Kyrgyzstan.

“The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik section of the state border is tense. It was not possible to contact the leadership of the border department of the Republic of Tajikistan by phone, phone calls remained unanswered”, the Kyrgyz border service stressed.

For its part, on Wednesday, the press centre of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan reported that seven citizens of Tajikistan were injured during the conflict at the Golovnoy water distribution point, which was “instigated by Kyrgyz citizens”.

The Kyrgyz-Tajik border is about 980 km long and has dozens of disputed sections, which emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At present, in the process of border delimitation and demarcation, about 580 km of the border crossing line have already been described. The last meeting of the demarcation commission was held in March 2021, the delegations were headed by the chairmen of the State Committees of National Security of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In some areas, from time to time, disputes and conflicts arise between local residents of border areas, in particular, in the Isfara district of the Sughd region of Tajikistan.