Intense fighting in the border dispute between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia is coming to a head. On the Kyrgyz side, there are deaths among soldiers and civilians, the National Security Council in Bishkek said on Friday. Citing unspecified sources, 17 would have died.
Late in the evening, the Kyrgyz Parliament wanted to assemble for an emergency session. It cannot be ruled out that the country will declare a state of war, said deputy Dastan Bekeshev.
According to authorities, 120,000 people were brought safely from the Kyrgyz region of Batken, close to the border. Both authoritarian Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which despite setbacks is considered relatively democratic, reported continued fighting.
As a result of the exchange of fire that has been going on for days, 18,500 people have fled the region, Russian news agency RIA reported, citing the Red Cross.
In the border area of both former Soviet republics, there have been repeated violent clashes for years. The latest skirmishes took place during an international summit in neighboring Uzbekistan. The meeting was attended by the presidents of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, as well as the heads of state of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Russia is an ally of both states and has asked them to sign a ceasefire. The two Central Asian countries do not border Russia, but do border China to the east.
On the sidelines of the summit in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik Head of State Emomali Rahmon agreed to a ceasefire on Friday, the Kyrgyz Presidential Office said. According to Kyrgyzstan, this is due to take effect at 16:00 local time (12:00 CEST) and include a bilateral troop withdrawal. Tajikistan confirmed this information. However, Kyrgyz border guards said that Tajik forces had again bombed two villages on the Kyrgyz side.
For Russia, the resurgence of the conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan comes at the wrong time, as does the upsurge in violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has already caused countless deaths. Russia includes these four former Soviet republics in its sphere of influence, as does Ukraine, among others. The Russian government’s attention has been particularly tight since Russian troops recently suffered serious setbacks in the war of aggression that began in February.