Kyrgyzstan has closed the border with Tajikistan as a response to the conflict over the Koktash-Aksay-Tamdyk Road, Trend reports.
According to the Tajik version of the conflict, Kyrgyzstan attempted to continue the road construction, part of which runs through the Tajik territory. Border guards in the area started an argument, escalating to a shootout started by the Kyrgyz guards. Shooting continued for an hour. Hundreds of shells and craters formed by mortars were left in the area.
Prime Ministers Tokon Mamytov and Murodali Alimardon agreed to investigate the incident. Heads of staffs of border guards, deputy interior ministers of the two states were sent to the scene of conflict. Governor of the Sogdi Province and plenipotentiary envoy of the Kyrgyz government in the Batken Province are cooperating to study the case.
Conflicts in the Batken Province on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border are common. Local residents are the main people involved in the conflicts. Kyrgyz and Tajik officials had talks at the Inter-Department Commission on January 7 and discussed the border problem. They decided to organize joint patrols.
The official theory for closing the border is unfixed borderline.
