DUSHANBE, May 1. /TASS/. The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon, discussed over the phone a full ceasefire on the border and the pullout of forces to the permanent location, the Tajik leader’s press service said on Saturday.
"During the conversation, the heads of state considered the implementation of the achieved agreements between the sides on normalizing the situation in the border areas of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In this context, special attention was drawn to the issues of observing the agreements on the full ceasefire and withdrawal of forces to the permanent location," the statement said.
The presidents also discussed a joint effort of the sides’ working groups in this direction and the launch of a meeting of the two countries’ intergovernmental commission on the issues of delimitation and demarcation.
The situation on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan near the Golovnoy water intake facility escalated on April 28, after clashes had sparked between residents of the two countries’ border areas. On April 29, armed skirmishes between Kyrgyz and Tajik servicemen broke out. On the evening of April 29, the sides agreed to a ceasefire and the pullout of troops. Bishkek and Dushanbe reported a large number of casualties.
The Kyrgyz-Tajik border is about 980 km long. Dozens of disputed sections remained along the border following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
On Friday, the Kyrgyz and Tajik presidents agreed in a phone conversation to hold a meeting of the intergovernmental commission in the city of Batken on the delimitation and demarcation of the border.