BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The
Central Asian republics of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan traded new
accusations Saturday over a ceasefire breach at their border, where deadly
clashes broke out a day earlier despite a ceasefire.
اضافة اعلان
Border disputes
have dogged the ex-Soviet republics throughout their three-decade independence,
with around half of their 970km-long frontier still contested.
The incidents took
place in the southern Kyrgyz regions of Osh and Batken.
The two sides
agreed a ceasefire Friday and Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon met his
Kyrgyz counterpart
Sadyr Japarov at a summit in Uzbekistan.
But the two countries
traded blame for ceasefire violations only a few hours later.
On Saturday, UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the leadership of both sides “to
engage in dialogue for a lasting ceasefire”, said a spokesman.
“The UN stands
ready to assist in identifying a sustainable solution to the border disputes,
if requested by the sides,” added Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN
chief.
On Saturday
morning, Kyrgyz border authorities accused Tajik armed forces of attacking
several border areas and settlements, including in the southern regions of
Batken and Osh.
Talks between
border guards from both sides took place in the Osh region during the day,
according to Bishkek, which said this helped put an end to Tajik fire on three
villages by midday.
Fears of larger conflict
Tajik border guards also said they would meet Saturday with
representatives of the two sides to “discuss the stabilization of the
situation” and the “withdrawal of forces” sent to reinforce the border in the
face of tensions.
But Dushanbe also
accused the Kyrgyz army of having twice fired twice in the morning on Tajik
positions.
Tajik border guards
said the situation was “relatively stable” at 10am (5am GMT) in a statement to
official news agency Khovar.
But they still
accused the Kyrgyz army of violating the ceasefire and “deploying military
reinforcements” at the border.
“Tajik border areas
are being fired at from the settlements of Samarkandek and Koktosh in the
Batken region (of Kyrgyzstan),” Tajik border officials said.
At least 24 people
have died and 122 people have been injured in the clashes, including children,
according to the Kyrgyz health ministry.
In the Batken
region, Kyrgyz authorities declared a state of emergency and the head of
Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, visited
the scene to “coordinate the resolution of the situation.”
On Saturday,
Japarov said he would “not stop for a minute” efforts to settle the border with
Tajikistan “as soon as possible”, while promising that he would “not abandon a
single square meter of land” in Kyrgyzstan.
Tens of thousands
of people have been evacuated from Kyrgyzstan’s border regions.
Tajikistan’s
interior ministry said civilians were killed in the clashes but did not provide
figures.
In 2021,
unprecedented clashes between the two sides killed at least 50 people and
raised fears of a larger conflict.
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