Five Tajik servicemen have reportedly been wounded in September 16 shooting on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border in the Bobojon-Ghafourov district (Sughd province).
Five Tajik servicemen wounded in Monday unrest o the Tajik-Kyrgyz border are:
1. Muhammad Ashourzoda, 20, servicemen of military unit 0202;
2. Shohrukh Safarkhouja, 19, servicemen of military unit 0202;
3. Idibek Shamsiyev, officer of the Alpha Group of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS);
4. Somon Shodiyev, 19, servicemen of military unit 0214;
5. Saidmumin Nematov, 39, chief of the Ovchi-Qalacha squad.
The wounded servicemen are currently undergoing medical treatment at the Bobojon-Ghafourov central district.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan’s online news agency 24.rg, citing Kyrgyz border agency, reports that Tajik authorities unilaterally suspend passage of people through the Kulundu – Ovchi-Qalacha border crossing point (BCP). The remaining BCPs reportedly function in normal mode.
Recall, a shoot-out broke out Monday evening following a dispute over construction at a non-demarcated section of the border and both sides blamed each other for starting the shooting.
Officials in Tajikistan say three Tajik border guards were killed in an exchange of gunfire.
The Kyrgyz border service said one of its men, 40-year-old Ravshan Muminov, was also killed. According to Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Health, 13 Kyrgyz citizens were wounded in the unrest.
The clash reportedly stopped at 9:30 pm and officials are taking measures to prevent further escalation.
Many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet.
