2 yıl önce

Kyrgyz-Tajik border clash leaves people wounded on 'both sides'

Shootouts between border troops of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have become increasingly regular and delimitation talks have made little progress.

Reuters

Kyrgyzstan says the latest violence began with an incursion into Kyrgyz territory by Tajik troops.

Troops from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have exchanged fire at their contested border, leaving wounded on both sides, Kyrgyzstan's security committee said.

"As of 2:15 pm (0815 GMT) on June 3, 2022, the shootout ended, there are wounded on both sides," the committee said in a statement on Friday.

"Ignoring legal demands to leave the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajik border guards opened fire on Kyrgyz military personnel," the statement said.

"A skirmish ensued between the border patrols of the two countries, during which the Tajik side used mortars," the committee added.

Tajikistan had not yet released an account of the incident.

Over a third of the two countries' 1,000-kilometre border remains disputed.

Serious escalations are rare but fears of a wider conflict stirred last year when dozens died in the worst confrontation between the pair in three decades of post-Soviet independence.