DUSHANBE, February 7, 2011, Asia-Plus — Resident of the village of Jomi in Zafarobod district, Sughd province has been hospitalized after he has been wounded by Uzbek border guard while pasturing cattle in the border area.
Tajik law enforcement authorities reported on February 7 that the incident took place at the Tajik-Uzbek border in northern Tajikistan on January 4.
“The 24-year-old Tolib Asrorov was pasturing cattle along the border when one of cows separated from a herd,” said the source, “The shepherd wanted to make the cow come back and inadvertently crossed over into Uzbek territory. At this moment, Uzbek border guards took a shot at Tolib on sight and wounded him in the leg.”
A total length of Tajikistan’s common border with Uzbekistan is more than 1,200 kilometers and many sections of this border have not yet been demarcated, there are no any special engineering and technical installations on these sections, which would demarcate the border. Such incidents may occur in the future as well, because Tajik civilians living along the country’s mountainous, rural border, can never be sure whether they are in Tajik territory or inadvertently cross over into Uzbekistan until these sections of the border are demarcated, local expert say.
