Tensions arise on Kyrgyz-Tajik border

Gulmira Borubayeva, spokeswoman of the Kyrgyz Border Guards, said that workers building a water pipeline on disputed Kyrgyz-Tajik territories threw stones at Kyrgyz border guards. Tajik border guards opened fire from mortars and grenade launchers at their Kyrgyz counterparts at the Tamdyk Post. The Tajik side reported about death of one and wounds of several other people, RIA Novosti reports.

Rajabali Rahmonali, the head of the Tajik Border Guards arrived in Dushanbe to discuss the incident with Kyrgyz officials.

Andrey Kazantsev, the director of the analytical center of the MGIMO Institute for International Studies, said that the incident had happened because the borders had not been delimited. In his words, the border of China and Central Asia was the only fixed line in the region. The expert sees no major political background in the conflict. He added that Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan had little to fight for, unlike Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and their struggles for water resources. Tajikistan has enough problems with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

Kazantsev doubts that Bishkek and Dushanbe have enough strength to resolve the problem without assistance of other countries. Russia and Kazakhstam, as CSTO members, should help in delimiting borders, in his opinion.