09:54, 17 сентября 2022, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Tatyana KUDRYAVTSEVA
Foreign Affairs Minister of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubayev had a telephone conversation with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Affairs Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau, as well as with the OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid. Press service of the Foreign Affairs Ministry reported.
The parties discussed the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
The Kyrgyz side provided up-to-date information on the current state of affairs and stressed the commitment of the Kyrgyz Republic to de-escalation and the invariance of the position on resolving the situation exclusively through political and diplomatic means.
«For their part, the OSCE representatives, noting deep concern in connection with the incoming news, urged not to allow escalation of conflict and to resolve it peacefully. At the same time, they welcomed the efforts of the parties to establish a constructive dialogue and called for respect for the previously reached ceasefire agreements,» the statement says.
Shooting began 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 positions of the Kyrgyz side. Later, the Tajik side began mortar shelling of border outposts and border villages in Leilek and Batken districts. Shooting continues for the fourth day since September 14. About 87 people were wounded, casualties reported. As a result of the armed conflict on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, residents of seven villages in Batken and Leilek districts, as well as from Dzhekendi village in Chon-Alai district of Osh region, left their homes.
The Border Service of the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic made an official statement that the heads of the security services of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Kamchybek Tashiev and Saimumin Yatimov, agreed to ceasefire at 4 p.m. Presidents Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon also agreed to ceasefire. The Kyrgyz side completely stopped firing, while the Tajik side reduced intensity. But, according to the latest data from the Border Service of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, the Tajik side opened fire again.