Another incident reportedly took place on the Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border yesterday evening.
A source within the administration of the Tajik northern Sughd province says residents of the Kyrgyz village of Ak-Suu Wednesday evening blocked the road connecting Vorukh jamoat and the city of Isfara after one of residents of Ak-Suu stated that his horses were missing and suggested that they had been taken away towards Tajikistan.
Vorukh is a jamoat in northern Tajikistan. It is an exclave surrounded by Kyrgyzstan that is subordinate to the city of Isfara in Sughd province.
“Representatives of border services and local authorities of both countries immediately arrived at the scene of the incident,” said the source. “They have managed to unblock the road ad people who gathered from both sides went peacefully to their homes.” .
It is to be noted that 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 Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan 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 at least fourteen cases of violence, in which six Tajik nationals and one Kyrgyz citizen were killed and more than 60 other people were injured.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan renewed interest in border delimitation suggests that the governments want to dedicate more attention and resources to the communities living in the Ferghana Valley.
