Two dead reported in Tajikistan after the clash with Kyrgyzstan
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Tajikistan said on Friday, January 28, 2022, that two of its people were killed and ten others were injured after night-time hostilities along the country’s disputed border with Kyrgyzstan, where a truce is currently in effect.
Following the latest violent flare-up along the pair’s contentious border, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan announced a cease-fire early Friday.
The hostilities that erupted Thursday evening were the deadliest between the two countries since confrontations that killed dozens last year.
Border towns in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan frequently dispute over land and water resources, with border guards frequently participating.
According to Tajikistan’s national security council, “ten persons were injured on the Tajik side, of which six were military and four were civilians” as a consequence of the recent incident.
Tajikistan claimed that the two deceased were a guy born in 1986 who was “killed by a mortar bomb launched into his yard by Kyrgyz forces” and an ambulance driver born in 1964.
Following the overnight battles, Kyrgyzstan’s national security committee said Friday that it had achieved an agreement with Tajikistan for a “full truce” during a border conference between provincial governors and border service representatives.
The neighbours also agreed to remove soldiers, coordinate border patrols, and maintain traffic passage along a critical corridor that connects both nations.
Several hours later, Tajikistan, a closed authoritarian state, acknowledged the arrangement.
“At the moment, the situation on Tajikistan’s and Kyrgyzstan’s state border is stable, and the reasons and elements of the border dispute are being analysed by a joint commission of the appropriate bodies of both sides”, the Tajik national security committee said in a statement.
According to Asia Plus, a private Tajik news service, up to 17 Tajiks were hurt.
According to Kyrgyzstan’s health ministry, at least eleven of its residents are being treated for relatively serious injuries.
