New clashes on Friday, September 16 on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, two Central Asian countries at loggerheads, left at least 18 injured, including four soldiers, on the Kyrgyz side, according to the authorities.
The Kyrgyz Ministry of Health announced that 18 people had been hospitalized. At least four soldiers receivedgunshot woundsin the Batken region of southeastern Kyrgyzstan.
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Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security reported that “intense clasheswere taking place in the border area, accusing Tajikistan of “bombard Kyrgyz territory with all available arsenaland to continue to deployheavy equipment“. Residents of several border villages have fled the fighting zone, said the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations, announcing the opening of reception centers.
Tajikistan, for its part, accused Kyrgyz forces of opening fire early Friday on Tajik border crossings, without immediately reporting casualties in its ranks. Russian news agency Ria-Novosti reported that a Tajik border guard was killed and three border guards were injured. According to Kyrgyz diplomacy, the foreign ministers of the two countries met to try to calm the situation. Clashes between the two countries earlier this week left two Tajik border guards dead and several injured on both sides.
The border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, two former Soviet republics in Central Asia, is the scene of regular deadly clashes. Nearly half of the 970 km border is disputed and progress in terms of demarcation has been slow in recent years. The year 2021 has seen an unprecedented number of clashes between the two sides, leaving more than 50 dead and raising fears of the widening of the conflict.