Asia

Shooting reported between Kyrgyz, Tajik border troops

A shooting erupted between border forces of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Thursday, the Kyrgyz border service said, adding that the Tajik side used mortars and grenades.

6353236 10.10.2020 Kyrgyz servicemen stand guard in the street after President Sooronbai Jeenbekov declared a state of emergency in the capital and ordered troops to be deployed there, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Alexey Maishev / Sputnik (Photo by Alexey Maishev / Sputnik / Sputnik via AFP)

Earlier in the day, Bishkek announced that forces were put on alert over “tensions” at the border over the Tajik side unilaterally blocking the area that connects two Kyrgyz towns, Batken and Isfana.

“However, at around 19:35 [13:35 GMT], the situation worsened due to the use of weapons by the Tajik side against Kyrgyz border units … in the area of Chyr-Dobo area of the Batken region. The main skirmishes between units of the border troops of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are taking place in the areas of Tort-Kocho and Chyr-Dobo. The Tajik side uses mortars and grenade launchers,” the spokesperson of the border service stated.

The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan sometimes turns into a conflict zone between local residents and border officers on both sides. The reason for the conflict: non-demarcated areas of where it is impossible to say which of the two countries the land belongs to.

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