Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan agree to ceasefire following border clash

The governments of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to a ceasefire following a border clash over access to water resources that led to dozens of people being killed and many more injured.

The agreement was signed on 1 May during negotiations held in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Region that also resulted in a mutual withdrawal of troops to the border areas held by the countries before the conflict broke out on 28 April.

The neighbouring Central Asian countries have also agreed to delineate interstate borders totalling 112 km before 9 May, according to Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security.

The four-day conflict resulted in 189 Kyrgyz casualties (36 killed and 153 injured), said the local authorities, adding that some houses were partially or totally destroyed and 33,388 people had been forced to evacuate the area

Tajikistan did not provide any new details on the number of casualties incurred, but according to the Dushanbe-based Asia-Plus media group, there were 107 Tajik casualties (19 killed and 88 wounded).

The clashes took place along the border between the Sogdia Province of Tajikistan and the Batken Region of Kyrgyzstan. The confrontation began on 28 April, with the press department of the Tajikistan State Committee for National Security reporting that a conflict near the Golovnoy water distribution station at the head of the Isafara River had broken out. According to the report, seven Tajik citizens were wounded. The following day the Border Service of the Kyrgyzstan State Committee for National Security blamed Tajikistan for the conflict and reported that four Kyrgyz personnel had been wounded.