The Border Service of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (SCNS) states that, violating all previously reached agreements, the Tajik side treacherously attacked border and civilian facilities along the entire perimeter of the Kyrgyz-Tajik state border in Batken region.
The state committee expresses extreme concern about the development of the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik section of the state border and notes the increasing provocations on the state border, the active participation in armed conflicts of persons who are not identified as military personnel of the Border Troops of Tajikistan, conducting agitation and propaganda of ideas aimed at inciting and intolerance towards citizens and military personnel the Kyrgyz Republic.
All this is a clear violation of the agreements on the stabilization of the situation on the state border and indicates that the Tajik authorities are not able to control the situation. Moreover, they contribute to the escalation of armed clashes, which leads to both loss of life and damage to the civilian infrastructure of the both countries.
The Border Service of the State Committee for National Security calls on the Tajik side to cease fire and direct all efforts to de-escalate the armed conflict and maintain peace and stability on the jointly guarded border.
Shooting started at several sites of the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the morning of September 16. According to the Border Service of the State Committee for National Security, at about 6 a.m. the Tajik side started firing at the border detachments and the positions of the Kyrgyz side in the areas of Eki-Tash, Chyr-Dobo, Kum-Mazar and Orto-Boz from small arms and group weapons. At 6.30 a.m., the Tajik side began mortar shelling in the area of responsibility of Kok-Tash border outpost of Batken border detachment. At 7.15 a.m., Tajik servicemen began firing at Samarkandek border outpost.
