Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan agree to ceasefire after deadly clashes

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan said on Friday they agreed to a ceasefire after shootings at their contested border left two Tajik citizens dead.

The violence that broke out Thursday night and continued into the night was the bloodiest escalation between the countries since deadly clashes last year.

Border guards are often drawn into conflicts between the Kyrgyz and Tajik frontier communities, which often clash over land and water supplies.

The national security committee said that 10 people were injured on the Tajik side, of which six were servicemen and four were civilians.

Tajikistan said he was killed by a mortar shell fired by Kyrgyz soldiers into his yard and an ambulance driver.

After overnight clashes with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan's national security committee said Friday that it had reached an agreement for a complete ceasefire with Tajikistan during a meeting at the border between provincial governors and border service representatives.

The neighbours agreed to withdraw forces, coordinate patrols of the frontier and ensure the flow of traffic along a strategic road that passes between both countries.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov wanted to assure citizens that the conflict would be resolved peacefully through negotiations, but they did not believe the false information spread for the purpose of escalating the situation in individual media and politicians who pursue interests of other countries, Japarov said on Facebook.

Tajikistan, an authoritarian country, confirmed the agreement several hours later.

The situation on the state border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is stable, the causes and factors of the border conflict are being studied by a joint commission of the relevant structures of both parties, the Tajik national security committee said.

The narrative about how the latest clashes in the remote area began was fiercely contested, as is custom during border flare-ups between Central Asia's two poorest countries.

The National Security Committee accused Tajik troops of using mortars and grenade launchers in exchanges that the committee said began just after 7: 30 pm, Kyrgyzstan time 1330 GMT on Thursday.

The shooting began almost immediately after the sides agreed to reopen a road blocked by Tajik citizens, the committee said.

Tajikistan's national security committee said that tensions had arisen after a group of Kyrgyz nationals stopped a Tajik vehicle transporting sand between two Tajik villages at around 1220 GMT.

Kyrgyz authorities did not show up for a meeting with Tajik officials called to prevent such illegal incidents, the committee claimed.

The border guards of the Republic of Tajikistan said that flights of drones were in violation of the airspace of the Republic of Tajikistan, and opened fire on civilians of the Republic of Tajikistan, who had taken up firing positions along the perimeter of a bridge. Tajikistan accused Kyrgyzstan of distributing false information in order to hide its illegal actions. Kyrgyzstan accused Tajikistan of distorting information. It was Tajik border guards who have recently used drones for reconnaissance purposes. It is worrying that instead of strengthening the Tajik-Afghan section of its border, where there is an accumulation of about 8,000 militants of terrorist organisations, the Tajik side is determined to escalate conflicts on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, Kyrgyzstan's national security committee said.

At least 11 of its citizens were being treated for moderately serious injuries, according to Kyrgyzstan's health ministry.

As many as 17 Tajiks have been injured, according to Asia Plus, a private Tajik news agency.

Nearly 1,500 Kyrgyz citizens were evacuated from villages near where the conflict took place at the intersection of Tajikistan's northern Sughd province and Kyrgyzstan's southwest Batken province, the emergencies ministry said.

More than 50 people were killed last year because of the violence between the two militaries.

The progress on delimitation has been glacial and almost half of the 970 kilometer long 600 mile border is disputed.