Kyrgyz nationals are reportedly hampering rehabilitation of a 45-kilometer road connecting the Tajik northern city Isfara and the Tajik exclave Vorukh in Kyrgyz territory.
“Repairing work in other sections of the road are being carried out in accordance with schedule but repairing in the section that passes through the Khoja Alo village has been suspended because Kyrgyz nationals are hindering the rehabilitation of the road,” an official source at the Isfara administration told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan’s border service says the situation along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in the Batken district is stable.
Citing Kyrgyz border service, AKIpress reports that the Tajik side on June 18 began rehabilitation of the section of the Isfara-Vorukh road in the undemarcated stretch of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border without consulting the Kyrgyz side.
“Citizens of Tajikistan illegally blocked the public road from 8:00 pm to 9:20 pm,” AKIpress says.
“Tajik citizens ignored Kyrgyz border guards’ demand to stop the road works and open the road, provoking some conflict,” says a statement released by Kyrgyz border service.
After a meeting of border representatives, the road works have reportedly been suspended and local authorities have carried out explanatory work among the population of border areas.
Recall, Dushanbe and Bishkek have agreed to cooperate on preventing provocations along the mutual border. Dushanbe hosted the next session of the Tajik-Kyrgyz commission for delimitation and demarcation of the mutual border on April 5-6. The meeting ended with signing of a protocol, under which the two sides agreed to cooperate on preventing provocations along the disputable stretches of the mutual border.
The total length of Tajikistan’s common border with Kyrgyzstan is 976 kilometers, of which only 504 kilometers been delimited and demarcated so far.
The Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border remains one of the last undefined frontiers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Despite repeated incidents over the past several years, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan remain unable to settle their Fergana valley border.
