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ConflictsKyrgyzstan

Dozens dead in Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border clash

September 18, 2022

The two Central Asian nations have frequently fought along the border, but a recent flare-up earlier this week, allegedly involving heavy weaponry use by both countries, appears to have killed at least 70 people.

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Kyrgyz border guards patrol at a frontier post in the village of Maksat, near the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, some 1,200 kilometres from Bishkek, on May 4, 2021.
Clashes last year along the border killed some 50 people Image: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Sunday released tolls for the people who died during recent clashes along the border.

Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry said at least 36 people died during recent clashes — revising the death toll from 24 earlier this week —  and more than 130 injured.

Kyrgyz officials said they evacuated some 137,000 people from the conflict area along the border, while the government declared September 19 a day of mourning for victims.

Tajikistan's foreign ministry said at least 35 people died, including women and children, during recent clashes. The Tajik interior ministry said people were killed during clashes that occurred Saturday as well, but didn't provide a figure for casualties at the time.

Fighting reportedly began as both countries accused each other of using heavy weaponry to attack outposts and nearby settlements along the border earlier this week.

Though both agreed a cease-fire deal Friday, clashes broke out again on Saturday. Fighting between the countries regularly erupts over their poorly demarcated border, but they usually de-escalate quickly. 

Cease-fire deal largely appears to be holding up

In spite of fighting Saturday, it appears that a cease-deal is largely working, as the situation along the border remained calm Sunday afternoon, according to Kyrgyz authorities.

After fighting on Saturday, the night passed "quietly, without incidents," Kyrgyz authorities said Sunday morning. 

The situation at the border was calm, "trending towards stabilization," Kyrgyz authorities added.

Putin calls for calm

Both countries are former Soviet republics and Russian allies.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday spoke to Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and Tajikleader Emomali Rahmon, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin called on both the countries to prevent any further escalation and asked both to "take steps to resolve the situation as soon as possible by exclusively peaceful, political and diplomatic means," the Kremlin added.

The border issues between the countries largely stem from the Soviet era when Moscow tried to divide the region between groups whose settlements were often located amidst those of other ethnicities.

rm/aw (Reuters, AP, AFP)