Caravanserai

Tajik, Kyrgyz citizens clash along border

Caravanserai and AFP

DUSHANBE -- One Tajik was killed and 11 injured in clashes with Kyrgyz citizens over a road project at the border between the two countries, Tajikistan said Thursday (March 14).

A group of Tajiks on Wednesday (March 13) were protesting Kyrgyzstan's plans for the project when shots were fired and stones were thrown from the other side of the border, Tajikistan's border service said.

Kyrgyzstan's border service confirmed the skirmish, but did not confirm the reported death.

The conflict comes even as Central Asian states attempt to overcome their Soviet past, when the Kremlin pitted them against each other by deliberately drawing borders that would maximise ethnic and territorial conflicts.

Kyrgyzstan said it was in talks with its neighbour about reopening two roads in the area that closed following the violence.

Trade has been growing between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan since they resolved a 2013-2014 surge in border disputes.

Last July, the five Central Asian states' foreign ministers conferred in Bishkek on border disputes, trade, water and tourism.

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3 Comment(s)

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Putin will be in Kyrgyzstan in March, right on time. He is likely preparing the ground and threatening.

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The Kremlin and the Soviet Past are at fault, as always. Shame on you!

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Look for the Kremlin's trace

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