Kyrgyzstan accuses Tajiks of breaking ceasefire
World
May 2, 2021
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan accused Tajikistan of breaking a ceasefire by firing on homes on Saturday and said 33 of its people have been killed in the deadliest border clashes between the countries since their independence from the Soviet Union.
The ceasefire was agreed on Thursday just hours after heavy fighting erupted on the Central Asian countries’ long-contested border. But Kyrgyzstan’s national security committee said Saturday that Tajikistan’s military had “opened fire on dwellings” in the Leilik district of Kyrgyzstan’s southwestern Batken region, which borders Tajikistan.
The security committee said that villagers had been evacuated from the houses before the shooting began at 0645 GMT on Saturday. In a previous release, Kyrgyzstan had accused Tajikistan of blocking a strategic road connecting a Kyrgyz territory to the rest of the country.