DUSHANBE, January 9, 2014, Asia-Plus — Tajik and Kyrgyz border guards and police will now jointly patrol disputed segments of their mutual border, according to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service.
Tajik government officials said on January 8 that the agreement was reached at ongoing border talks in Dushanbe.
A Kyrgyz delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Tokon Mamytov, began talks with Tajik officials in Dushanbe on January 7.
The talks were initiated by Bishkek last month in an effort to tackle escalating tensions.
Those tensions were heightened after an alleged arson attack in December destroyed a teahouse belonging to a Kyrgyz citizen in a disputed segment of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.
There were several clashes along the border between Kyrgyz and Tajiks in 2013.
Many areas along the borders in Central Asia remain in dispute after collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The talks in Dushanbe are continuing at least through January 9.
