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Shelling of area in Osh Region from Tajikistan ends — Kyrgyz border guards

At 19:00 the shelling of Kyrgyz border guards in the Karamyk area of the Con-Alai district of the Osh Region ended

BISHKEK, September 17. /TASS/. Tajikistan’s military has stopped shelling an area in the Chon-Alai district of the Osh Region of Kyrgyzstan, the border guard service of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security said on Saturday.

"At 19:00 (16:00 Mocow time) the shelling of Kyrgyz border guards in the Karamyk area of the Con-Alai district of the Osh Region ended," the news release reads. At the same time, the situation on the border in the Chon-Alai district of the Osh Region and the Batken Region remains tense.

The chiefs of the two countries’ border guard services are due to meet at the Guliston border checkpoint.

Tensions on the border between the two states escalated on September 14. According to the Kyrgyz side, Tajik border guards on Wednesday entered the border area near Bulak-Bashy, the Batken district of the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan and "took combat positions." In response to the demand for leaving the territory, the Tajik border guards opened fire. A shootout ensued. A few hours later, armed clashes also took place in the areas of Kak-Sai and Pasky-Aryk in the Batken Region. On Saturday, Kyrgyzstan’s border guards for the first time said there had been a shelling of the Osh Region. All of the previous incidents occurred in the Batken Region.

According to the latest statistics, in Kyrgyzstan 24 civilians were killed and more than 120 others injured. The Kyrgyz authorities have evacuated more than 136,000 local residents. A state of emergency has been imposed on the Batken Region.