Another clash has erupted between residents of border areas of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Both sides have blamed each other for the incident
An official source within the administration of the Tajik northern city of Isfara says that on January 9 at 9:20 pm Kyrgyz nationals “attacked Tajik national Zafar Azamov for no apparent reason and broke his car’s mirror with stone.”
“On January 10 at around 2:00 am, Kyrgyz citizens began firing randomly into the air. They were firing in single shots from assault rifles and hunting guns. The shooting stopped at around 2:30 am after the intervention of representatives of police and border services of both sides,” the source said.
No casualties were reported among nationals of Tajikistan, according to the source.
Meanwhile, a statement released by Kyrgyzstan’s border service say that unknown persons stoned a car of Kyrgyz nationals in the Jaka-Oruk area, the Batken district of the Batken region on January 10 at 00:40 am and hid in the territory of Tajikistan. Injured were reported among Kyrgyz nations, the statement says.
The statement further notes that about an hour later, nationals of Tajikistan stoned a car of anther Kyrgyz citizen in the Kocho-Karyn area.
“At around 2:40 am on January 10, Tajik citizens stoned a house of Kyrgyz national in the Dakhma area. Border guards and law enforcement officers, who were heading to the house of the Kyrgyz national, came under fire from hunting gun from Tajik territory,” says the statement.
A source in the Tajik city of Isfara told Asia-Plus today morning that the situation along the border has been taken under control by patrols of border guards and law enforcement officers of both countries.
It is to be noted that Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have not yet resolved the border delineation problem. 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.
The border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has been the scene of unrest repeatedly since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The countries share 971 kilometers of border – of which only 504 kilometers has reportedly been properly delineated.
Last year alone, there were reportedly at least ten cases of violence, typically stemming from differences among local residents about how to share land and resources.
