BISHKEK, September 16. /TASS/. Tajik servicemen opened fire at several Kyrgyz border guard units on Friday, the Border Guard Service of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security said.

"The Tajik side opened fire at border guard units of the Border Guard Service of Kyrgyzstan’s State National Security Committee and the Kyrgyz side’s positions in the areas of Eki-Tash, Chyr-Dobo, Kum-Mazar and Orto-Boz <…>, and also on the Samarkandek border post, located in the Paksy-Aryk area of the Batken Region’s Batken district," the statement says.

The Border Guard Service described the situation in the area as "tense."

"Units of the Border Guard Service of SCNS, headquartered in the Batken Region at the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, are performing their duties amid robust security regime. The Border Guard Service is taking all efforts to stabilize the situation and prevent the conflict from escalating," the statement says.

The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border escalated on September 14. According to the Kyrgyz side, Tajik border guard units penetrated into an undefined area of the border near the Bulak-Bashi area of Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Region and "took fighting positions." In response to the Kyrgyz servicemen’s demand to leave the area, the Tajik officers opened fire with the ensuing shootout. A couple of hours later, gunfire also erupted in the Kak-Sai and Pasky-Aryk localities in the Batken Region. Shooting ceased by Wednesday evening. The Kyrgyz side said two servicemen and three civilians were injured in the fire.

The Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border is more than 980 kilometers long, with dozens of disputed sections remaining after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Up to date, more than 660 km between the two countries have been identified and agreed upon in the process of delimitation and demarcation. In some areas, disputes and conflicts arise from time to time between local residents of the border areas.