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Tensions between Kyrgyz servicemen provoked murders - border service

Last Monday, Private Kulbarat uulu Balbai, 19, used his service weapon to shoot and kill four contract servicemen and the wife of one of them

BISHKEK, August 23 (Itar-Tass) — Kyrgyzstan's border service said tensions and conflicts between servicemen provoked the murder of five persons at the Echkili-Tash outpost in the republic's Issyk Kul district.

Last Monday, Private Kulbarat uulu Balbai, 19, used his service weapon to shoot and kill four contract servicemen and the wife of one of them. Three borderguards fled and hid in the mountains.

Kulbarat uulu Balbai was killed in a shootout with police a day later as he offered resistance. The Kyrgyz border service said in a statement that the main motive behind the crime was "contradictions and tense personal relations and conflicts between Pvt Kulbarat uulu Balbai and several Sergeants serving under contract."

"The conclusion is based on preliminary results of the service check and eye-witnesses' testimony," the border service said.