Clashes erupt between Kyrgyz, Tajik border guards

BISHKEK (Reuters) -Kyrgyz and Tajik border guards exchanged hearth in three separate incidents on Wednesday after a dispute over the border between the 2 Central Asian nations, officers on either side mentioned.

The clashes, which come on the eve of a regional safety physique assembly and in opposition to the background of preventing between Russia and Ukraine in addition to Azerbaijan and Armenia, began after Kyrgyz border guards accused the Tajiks of taking positions at part of the border that has not been demarcated.

Each Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are allied with Russia and host Russian navy bases, however preventing over border points is frequent and final yr nearly resulted in an all-out struggle between the previous Soviet republics.

The Tajik facet mentioned in a press release Kyrgyz border guards opened unprovoked gun and mortar hearth on their outpost. Tajikistan’s border drive mentioned one border guard was killed within the incident and one other two have been injured, the RIA Novosti information company reported.

Kyrgyzstan mentioned two of its servicemen have been wounded and that two extra incidents happened in numerous border areas, though all three shootouts occurred alongside the Batken province border.

Kyrgyz and Tajik leaders are anticipated to attend a summit of the Shanghai Safety Organisation in Uzbekistan this week alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese language chief Xi Jinping in addition to a bunch of different world leaders.

(Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko in BIshkek and Nazarali Pirnazarov in DushanbeWriting by Olzhas Auyezov; Modifying by Michael Perry, Andrew Heavens, William Maclean)