Incident with use of firearms reported on Kyrgyz-Tajik border

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security on Tuesday reported an incident with the use of firearms on the border with Tajikistan.

The committee in a statement said the incident took place near Ak-Bosoga settlement in Batken region, where Kyrgyz border guards spotted Tajik shepherds grazing cattle at some 300 meters from their state border, on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.

The border guards asked the Tajik citizens to leave, who in response throwed stones, and one of them fired several shots towards the Kyrgyz border post, it claimed.

"To avoid an aggravation of the situation, the border guards of the Kyrgyz Republic opened warning fire into the sky, after which the shepherds fled to the territory of Tajikistan," the Kyrgyz agency said.

There were no wounded among its border guards, while one of the Tajik citizens got a leg wound according to a photo shared by Kyrgyz police, the committee added.

"Since Tajik law enforcement officials sent only a photo, it is not known under what circumstances, when and where this citizen was injured," the statement stressed, adding that the issue will be addressed at a special meeting between representatives of the two countries.

In February, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan inched toward to a final settlement to end decades of border disputes by agreeing on the delimitation of 90% of contested territory.