1 dead, 3 injured in Kyrgyz-Tajik border clashes
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Moscow is urging both parties to cease fire and de-escalate the situation, as one civilian and three injuries have been reported so far.
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Kyrgyz forces (AA)
According to Kyrgyzstan's border guard service, Tajik forces opened fire again on several of its outposts on Friday, as a result of tension between the Russian allies after a short confrontation earlier this week.
Along the entire length of the border, Kyrgyz border guards returned fire as clashes took place, with the service adding that Tajik forces were using tanks, armored personnel carriers, and mortars.
In response, Tajikistan accused Kyrgyzstan forces of using "heavy weaponry" to shell one of its outposts and seven villages, in which a civilian was killed and three were injured, according to authorities in the Tajik city of Isfara.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon are both attending a regional security summit in Uzbekistan, the SCO, and the governors of Kyrgyz and Tajik provinces near the border were set to meet at a border crossing point to try to defuse the situation.
The provocation began when Tajik patrol guards were asked by Kyrgyz troops to relinquish "combat positions", Russian media reported, and the Kyrgyz border service issued that request as a result of the provocative combat positions that the Tajik side took up on the uncontrolled section of the border.
The poorly demarcated border witnesses clashes between the two former Soviet republics frequently, which usually tend to de-escalate quickly, although last year they almost led to an all-out war. The Polish mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) reported that the organization issued calls for both countries to reimplement a ceasefire.
Both countries host Russian military bases and have cordial and close ties with Moscow, which called for a cessation of hostilities this week.
