A working meeting of delegations of Tajik and Kyrgyz border services took place in the Tajik northern city of Buston on June 6. Co-chaired by Tajik border service chief Rajabali Rahmonali and his Kyrgyz counterpart Ularbek Sharsheyev, the meeting reportedly focused on the current situation along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.
According to the Kyrgyz border service press center, the delegations discussed the current situation along the mutual border and the possible development of it.
The meeting participants reportedly expressed concern about increase in incidents along the mutual border, and the Kyrgyz side says these incidents “are intentional.”
The delegations also discussed joint measures to prevent and settle border incidents. Thus, the sides agreed not to use weapons, with the exception of cases when there is a real threat to lives and health of border guards, and in so doing, border guards should act strictly in accordance with legislation of their countries.
The sides agreed to provide assistance to investigative bodies with investigating border incidents.
The meeting resulted in signing of a protocol.
The Main Border Guard Directorate of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Tajikistan has refrained from giving any comments.
Recall, Tajik and Kyrgyz border guards brawled on disputed land on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border on June 4.
According to the Kyrgyz border service, the incident took place in the Leilek district in Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken region, after Kyrgyz vendors started selling goods on a disputed part of the border.
Kyrgyz border guards reportedly briefly detained three armed Tajik border guards following the brawl that involved shooting.
Border representatives of Tajikistan for Jabbor-Rasoulov district and border representatives of Kyrgyzstan for Leilek district reportedly had an immediate meeting to discuss the situation.
The Kyrgyz border service’s public relations and mass media department reports that the Tajik border guards were released after the talks.
Nobody was hurt. The current situation along the border is calm and under control of both the Tajik and Kyrgyz authorities.
Meanwhile, Tajik border service has denied a statement released by Kyrgyz border service over the June 5 border incident as baseless.
The Main Border Guard Directorate of Tajikistan noted on June 5 that a statement released by Kyrgyz border service over the June 4 conflict between Tajik and Kyrgyz border guards does not correspond to the facts.
A statement released by the Tajik Main Border Guard Directorate, in particular, notes that the Kyrgyz side refused to carry out a joint investigation into the incident.
“…As seen on video spread by Kyrgyz authorities, the conflict was planned by the Kyrgyz side in advance and Kyrgyz border were first to make warning shots into the air,” the statement notes.
At the end, the statement says that despite “the repeated written appeals regarding illegal actions of residents of Kyrgyz border settlements, the latter continue their provocative actions on the non-delineated stretches of the border.”
“Such actions by nationals of Kyrgyzstan destabilize the situation” and lead to incidents in cross-border areas, says the statement.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been unable to agree on the location of the border they inherited when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. As the population in the dense Ferghana Valley grows, it has become increasingly difficult to demarcate the contested sections, where valuable agricultural land often lies.
The area at the focus of unrest among residents of border areas of the two countries lies on the jagged frontier where the east of Tajikistan’s Sughd province and Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region meet.
Skirmishes have sparked between residents of Isfara (Tajikistan) and Batken (Kyrgyzstan) districts along the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border.
The latest serious skirmishes sparked by a territorial dispute between residents along the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border escalated on August 4, 2015, leaving several people injured and damaging multiple homes.
