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24 Kyrgyz nationals killed in conflict on border with Tajikistan — health ministry

Twenty-four bodies of those killed were taken to public health organizations of the Batken region

BISHKEK, September 16. /TASS/. Twenty-four people were killed in the armed conflict on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, Kyrgyzstan’s health ministry said on Friday.

"Twenty-four bodies of those killed were taken to public health organizations of the Batken region (in Kyrgyzstan’s south, near the border with Tajikistan - TASS)," it wrote on its Facebook (outlawed in Russia as belonging to Meta corporation, which is recognized extremist) account.

According to the ministry, as many as 87 people were taken to hospitals.

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.

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