Bishkek: Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Friday accused each other of using heavy weapons such as tanks and mortars in border clashes that left at least three people dead and 27 injured in clashes two days ago.
Kyrgyzstan's border guard service said Tajik forces fired again early Friday at several of their outposts in a disputed mountainous border area with Tajik forces using tanks, armoured vehicles and mortars.
In turn, Tajikistan accused Kyrgyz forces of shelling an outpost and seven villages with "heavy weaponry" in the same area, which is famous for its jigsaw-puzzle political and ethnic geography and became the site of similar hostilities last year, almost leading to a war.
Officials from the Tajik city of Isfara also reported that one civilian was killed and three others were injured.
Kyrgyzstan reported 18 injuries overnight in southern Batken province, which borders Tajikistan's northern Sughd region and features the Tajik exclave of Vorukh, a major hotspot for recent clashes.
The Bishkek government said the Kyrgyz and Tajik foreign ministers had discussed the matter, but the border guard said two ceasefire agreements had already failed.
The Kyrgyz border guard said the governors of neighbouring Kyrgyz and Tajik provinces would meet in the border area in an effort to end the conflict.
The head of Kyrgyzstan's State Security Service said it was in talks with the Tajik rival and that the intensity of the shooting was decreasing.
Kyrgyz President Sadir Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon attended a regional security summit in Uzbekistan and were pictured among the leaders in a group photo taken over dinner on Thursday.
Border conflicts between the two former Soviet republics are frequent and usually end quickly. But last year it almost brought it to the brink of war.
Both countries host Russian military bases and have close ties with Moscow.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led security group of which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are members, said on Friday it had contacted both governments.
source: Reuters