Road to International village is still closed. Police officers standing at the roadblocks explain that the settlement has not yet been completely cleared of mines.
«The sappers are working. You can’t drive into the village itself — you can blow yourself up on an unexploded shell,» they explained.
The village was entered with the help of local residents. They, like journalists, return home for the first time after the incident, but for a while.
Businessman Ruslan Mirzali uulu has a pharmacy in the market. After the invasion, the Tajiks stole laptops, CCTV cameras.
«Everything happened unexpectedly. We were attacked at seven in the morning. We ran out and saw that it was impossible to get on the road. Everything was in smoke. Now, it turned out that there was looting by Tajik citizens. Houses, bazaar were burned, shops were looted. Shootings happened before, of course, but there was no looting,» Ruslan Mirzali uulu told.
The smell of burning is still felt in International village. The market is still smoldering. Empty houses and streets, a looted market ... It is clear that people do not dare to return here yet.
Emergency situation has been introduced in Batken region. Shooting began at several sites of the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the morning of September 16. Settlements in Leilek and Batken district came under fire. The Ministry of Health reported 163 victims, 59 people were killed. As a result of the armed conflict on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, residents of seven villages in Batken and Leilek districts, as well as Dzhekendi village in Chon-Alai district of Osh region, left their homes.
By the decree of the President Sadyr Japarov, September 19, 2022 was declared a Day of National Mourning in the Kyrgyz Republic.
