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600 Kyrgyz citizens evacuated from zone of conflict along border with Tajikistan

The clashes broke out near Kyrgyzstan’s village of Aksai and Tajikistan’s Vorukh exclave late on July 22 after a flagpole had been mounted by one of the sides on the disputed territory

BISHKEK, July 24. /TASS/. Kyrgyzstan has evacuated 600 people from the zone of conflict between the locals on the border with Tajikistan, the Red Crescent Society of the Kyrgyz Republic reported on Wednesday.

"A total of 600 people were evacuated from the border village of Aksai to the Batken regional center," the report says. All of them received temporary accommodation, products, medications and articles of daily necessity.

Clashes between Kyrgyz and Tajik citizens broke out near Kyrgyzstan’s village of Aksai and Tajikistan’s Vorukh exclave on the evening of July 22 after a flagpole had been mounted by one of the sides on the disputed territory. During the confrontation, which lasted several hours, the participants used hunting rifles, stones and clubs. Fifteen Kyrgyz people, including border and police officers, and 15 Tajik people were injured and one Tajik citizen was killed in the clashes.

The border units of the two states were activated due to the conflict, and the Isfara (Tajikistan) -Vorukh highway was closed. Kyrgyzstan took 315 women, children and elderly people from the confrontation zone to the Batken regional center.

The border line between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is about 970 km long. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, about 70 disputed areas were formed along it, which sometimes sparked conflicts between the locals and servicemen of the two republics, including with the use of fire arms. About three years ago, Bishkek and Dushanbe agreed to galvanize the demarcation and delimitation of the common border section. To date, they have managed to agree on the border line almost 600 km long.

The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday that a possible meeting between the presidents of the two republics is being discussed at the diplomatic level now.