Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan trade blame for cross-border shelling

·1 min read

MOSCOW (AP) — Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan traded blame Thursday for cross-border shelling that left at least four people wounded in the latest outburst of tensions between the two ex-Soviet Central Asian neighbors.

Kyrgyzstan's National Security Committee said that Tajik troops fired mortar shells and machine guns at an area around a water reservoir in the village of Kok-Tash in the western Batken region near the border with Tajikistan.

Marufkhan Tulayev, a deputy governor of the Batken region, said that four people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds after the shelling, according to the Interfax news agency.

“The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border has spun out of control, and the shelling is continuing,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying.

In the footage released by Kyrgyz media outlets, Kyrgyz men were seen taking cover as automatic gunfire rang out in the background.

Tajikistan's National Security Committee accused Kyrgyz troops of triggering the incident by firing on the Tajik border guards and accused Kyrgyzstan of trying to forcefully take over the area that Tajikistan sees as part of its territory.

Both neighbors have claimed the area around the water reservoir, a dispute dating back decades when they were part of the Soviet Union.

A large part of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border has remained unmarked, fueling fierce disputes over water, land and pastures and the tensions have sporadically morphed into violent clashes.

Kyrgyz and Tajik government delegations have held several rounds of talks in recent years but have failed to end the controversy.

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