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At Least One Dead, 24 Wounded In New Clashes Along Kyrgyz-Tajik Border

By RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, RFE/RL's Tajik Service January 27, 2022

At least one civilian was killed and 24 other people were wounded as Kyrgyz and Tajik security forces traded fire along a disputed segment of the two countries' border, officials on both sides say, in the latest outbreak of violence between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan following a similar clash that killed dozens last year.

Security officials in Tajikistan told RFE/RL on January 27 that one Tajik civilian was killed and 17 border guards and civilians were wounded as the two Central Asian countries accused each other of blocking a road crossing the border and of opening fire first.

Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry said seven wounded people were taken to hospital, one of them with a gunshot injury, while the Emergencies Ministry said 1,470 Kyrgyz were evacuated from the area of the fighting.

Tajik villagers living close to the site were also being evacuated, according to media reports in Tajikistan.

The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance that includes both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as members, said its secretary-general held talks with military officials from both sides in an attempt to halt the fighting.

The armed confrontation "must be stopped immediately," Stanislav Zas said, adding that the CSTO "is ready to provide the necessary assistance in resolving the conflict," according to a statement.

The Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security said two rounds of telephone talks between the chiefs of the two countries' border forces had not produced a cease-fire as of 11 p.m. local time.

It also accused Tajikistan of deploying heavy military equipment and personnel to the border.

According to a statement issued by Tajikstan's State Committee for National Security, the Kyrgyz side fired at Tajik "residents, vehicles, and facilities."

The Kyrgyz committee said the conflict started when Tajik citizens blocked a road crossing the disputed segment of the border in the area known as Tort-Kocho. Border guards on both sides managed to get the road unblocked, but "the Tajik side...opened fire from mortars and grenade launchers."

Meanwhile, Zubaidullo Shamodov, a spokesman for Tajikistan's Isfara region, which borders Batken, told RFE/RL that the road was blocked by the Kyrgyz side.

Almost half of the 970-kilometer Kyrgyz-Tajik border has yet to be demarcated, leading to repeated tensions since the two countries gained independence after the breakup of the Soviet Union three decades ago.

Many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan meet.

Last April, clashes that involved military personnel along the Tajik=Kyrgyz border left dozens of people dead on both sides.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyz-tajik- border-shootout-batken/31674508.html

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At Least One Dead, 24 Wounded In New Clashes Along Kyrgyz-Tajik Border