09:48, 04 мая 2021, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Darya PODOLSKAYA
Actions of the Tajik side are regarded as military aggression. The statement was released by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan the day before.
According to it, on April 29, starting at 4.40 bandit groups and regular troops of Tajikistan treacherously attacked the borders of the Kyrgyz Republic in Batken region.
Automatic weapons, mortars, combat helicopters, heavy armored vehicles, artillery crews and other types of weapons were used against the civilian population of Kyrgyzstan in violation of the requirements of the charter of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights dated 1976, as well as in violation of the agreement on creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States dated 1991, the Alma-Ata Declaration dated 1991, the Moscow Declaration on Observance of Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability of the Borders of the CIS Member States dated 1994 and the 1996 Treaty on the Basics of Interstate Relations between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan.
«The use of offensive heavy weapons far from the places of permanent deployment indicates that this military invasion was planned and organized in advance with the aim of seizing the sovereign territory of Kyrgyzstan. Regular troops, armed mercenaries and other bandit groups took part in the hostilities provoked by the Tajik side,» the Prosecutor General’s Office said in the statement.
It is stressed that these armed groups deliberately attacked the unarmed civilian population of the Kyrgyz Republic. In this regard, the Kyrgyz side took measures to evacuate the civilian population from certain settlements in Leilek and Batken districts, after which the military personnel and bandit groups of the Republic of Tajikistan began looting the property of the local population with theft of livestock and vehicles and taking them into the territory of Tajikistan.
At the same time, in order to conceal their criminal actions, massive arsons of residential buildings and other looted infrastructure facilities were also committed. As a result, the citizens and the state suffered colossal material damage.
From the statement of the Prosecutor General’s Office
The statement notes that in the first hours of the armed attack with the use of mortar fire and other army weapons, 24 civilians were killed in Golovnoy area of Batken region.
«In order to prevent seizure of the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic and to prevent killing of civilians, the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic took measures to repel attacks by outnumbered enemy forces,» the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.
Within the framework of the initiated criminal cases on the aforementioned facts, it was established that as a result of the armed attack, 36 citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic were killed, three of them are servicemen, the rest are civilians, including two young children, over 180 citizens were injured, who were hospitalized to medical institutions of the republic, most of them are in extremely serious condition, more than 33,000 citizens had been evacuated from the conflict zone.
As a result of military aggression on the part of the Republic of Tajikistan, more than 170 residential buildings, buildings of medical and educational institutions, infrastructure facilities and property of citizens of Kyrgyzstan had been destroyed.
Numerous cartridges from automatic, large-caliber weapons, land mines and mines, unexploded shells and aircraft missiles, trenches and other fortifications erected by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan were found in the border villages of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The servicemen of Tajikistan and numerous bandit groups purposefully used high-explosive fragmentation and missile weapons against the civilian population and civilian objects.
Ambulances transporting the wounded were also attacked, which testifies to the brutal aggression and violation of humanitarian and international norms by the Republic of Tajikistan, contrary to the adopted unilateral and multilateral international agreements and the Geneva Conventions.
At the same time, the military personnel of Kyrgyzstan used firearms exclusively for the purpose of self-defense and protection of the civilian population, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state. At the same time, the armed forces and civilians of the Kyrgyz Republic did not attack settlements and other objects on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Kyrgyz Republic opened a criminal case on all the facts on April 29, 2021. Investigative measures are being carried out, material evidence and video recordings were seized, photo and video recording was carried out.
The border conflict began on April 28. Local residents, army units and heavy weapons were involved in it. The parties finally agreed on the armistice and withdrawal of troops only on the evening of May 1.
At least 183 Kyrgyzstanis sought medical help, 36 people died, including children. More than 33,000 people have been evacuated from the conflict zone. The Tajik side unofficially reported more than 150 wounded and about 16 dead.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 107 houses, two schools, a village first-aid station, a kindergarten, a police station, three checkpoints, ten gas filling stations and eight shops were destroyed in Kyrgyz border villages. Border outposts were also damaged. According to the Tajik side, more than 10 houses have been destroyed by fire in Khoja Alo border village.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan began pre-trial proceedings under the article «Crime against peace» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.