Governors of Tajik Sughd province (Rajabboy Ahmadzoda) and Kyrgyz Batken region (Abdikarim Alimbayev) met in the evening of May 17, at 8:00 pm, in the area between Vorukh jamoat, Tajikistan’s exclave within Kyrgyz territory, and the Kyrgyz village of Ak-Sai to discuss the May 17 incident, according to the Sughd governor’s office.
Chiefs of the law enforcement agencies of the two regions reportedly also participated in the meeting.
A joint police checkpoint has been set up in the area between Vorukh jamoat and Ak-Sai village to ensure the safety of citizens entering and leaving the two villages.
“The sides have also agreed to organize the joint patrolling by border guards of the two countries of dangerous sections of the border,” a source within the Sughd governor’s office said.
Governors of Sughd and Batken and chiefs of the law enforcement agencies of the two regions reportedly agreed to meet weekly at the border in order to address quickly problems arising in border areas and ensure public safety in the area.
Recall, several Tajik and Kyrgyz nationals were briefly detained along a disputed segment of the mutual border on May 17.
Residents of the Kyrgyz Ak-Sai village Monday morning beat and took three Tajik nationals hostage with help of the Kyrgyz border guards.
On the same day, residents of Vorukh took three nationals of Kyrgyzstan hostage.
A hostage exchange took place in Vorukh Monday afternoon. All of the detained individuals had been released after talks between officials.
The incident took place about three weeks after deadly clashes in areas between Kyrgyz and Tajik military left 55 killed and more than 270 wounded on both sides.
The border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan has been the scene of unrest repeatedly since the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
Border talks between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan began in 2002. The countries share 976 kilometers of border – of which only 504 kilometers has reportedly been properly delineated, leading to tensions for the past 30 years.
