The current situation along the Tajik-Kyrgyz borders is currently assessed as relatively stable.
Representatives of border agencies of the two countries as well representatives of local authorities of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan will meet today to discuss the yesterday incident and the situation along the mutual border. The meeting will be co-chaired by the deputy commander of Tajik border troops of Tajikistan Hikmatullo Pirakov and the first deputy chief of Kyrgyzstan’s border service Abdikarim Alimbayev.
An official source at the Tajik power-wielding structures says Lieutenant-Colonel Rustam Ubaidulloyev, private soldier Ramazon Islomov and private soldier Ghiyosiddin Suvanov were killed in the September 16 shooting on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border between Tajikistan’s Bobojon-Ghafourov district (Sughd province) and the Leilek district of Kyrgyzstan.
A shoot-out broke out yesterday evening following a dispute over construction at a non-demarcated section of the border and both sides blamed each other for starting the shooting.
The Border Guard Directorate of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Tajikistan stated yesterday that Kyrgyz border guards began shooting first. Kyrgyz border guards reportedly open fire at unarmed residents of the Bahor mahalla at 7:00 pm and several Tajik citizens were wounded.
According to Tajikistan’s border agency, the clash broke out following a dispute over construction by Kyrgyz citizens of unknown facilities in a sports ground in the Bahor mahalla of the Ovchi-Qala jamoat in the Bobojon-Ghafourov district of Tajikistan.
“These provocative actions of Kyrgyz border guards are assessed as an attempt to artificially escalate the situation on the border that may cause resonance from residents of border district in this vulnerable region,” says a statement released by Tajik border service.
Kyrgyz border service, for its part, blames Tajik border guards for starting the shooting.
Citing Kyrgyzstan’s border service, Kyrgyz media reports say that at least one Kyrgyz border guard was killed and seven others were wounded in yesterday’s shooting.
Kyrgyz online news agency 24.kg says one border guard was killed and thirteen people, including seven border guards and six civilians, were wounded. Two of them are reportedly in serious condition.
Meanwhile, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, citing Tajik local officials, says that twelve citizens of Tajikistan had been hospitalized.
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.
