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Two Kyrgyz nationals killed, 55 wounded on border with Tajikistan — Kyrgyz health ministry

There are both soldiers and civilians among wounded

BISHKEK, September 16. /TASS/. Two Kyrgyz nationals were killed and 55 more were wounded in Friday’s armed conflict on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, Kyrgyzstan’s health ministry said.

"According to the latest data, two people were killed and 55 more received wounds and injuries in the border incident," it said, adding that there are both soldiers and civilians, including seven women and five children, among those wounded. The ministry did not rule out that the number of fatalities may be greater, since no verified information on this matter is available as of yet.

According to the Kyrgyz side, its border units in the areas of Eki-Tash, Chyr-Dobo, Kum-Mazar, Kulundu, Maksat, Zhany-Zher and Orto-Boz as well as at the Samarkandek outpost came under fire from Tajik territory on Friday morning. The regional center of Batken and its airport were fired upon from multiple rocket launchers.

The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border flared up on September 14. The Kyrgyz side said that on Wednesday Tajik border guards had penetrated into a border section near Bulak-Bashy in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region and "took combat positions." In response to a demand to leave the area, the Tajik border guards opened fire triggering a shootout. Several hours later, armed clashes were reported in the areas of Kak-Sai and Paksy-Aryk. The shootouts stopped by the evening. The Kyrgyz side reported that two soldiers and three civilians had been wounded.