BISHKEK, September 16. /TASS/. The Kyrgyz side has sustained serious losses in armed clashes on the border with Tajikistan, Kamchybek Tashiyev, chief of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee on National Security, said on Friday.

"There are losses among our servicemen, big losses, regrettably," he said in an interview with the state television. He did not say, however, how many soldiers were killed and wounded.

"This information is being verified," he said, adding that casualties were reported among civilians, who were not evacuated from the conflict zone promptly.

Kyrgyzstan’s health ministry said earlier in the day that 87 people had been wounded and promised to release information about those killed later.

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.

In the second half of the day, the sides said they had reached agreements on ceasefire and withdrawal of troops and weapons from the conflict zone.

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.