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Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan agree not to aggravate situation at shared border section

Now and then, conflicts flare up at disputed sections of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border

BISHKEK, December 26. /TASS/. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have agreed to counteract provocations at the shared border section to avoid an aggravation in tensions, Kyrgyzstan’s border service said on Monday.

According to the service, the agreement was reached as a result of talks between chief of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security’s Border Service Ularbek SDharsheyev and commander of the Tajik National Security Committee’s border troops Radzhbali Rakhmonali.

"The talks yielded the following decisions: to continue the work of the joint working commission into 2023, to call on the sides’ prosecutorial agencies to speed up work on the return of properties of the two countries’ nationals, and to avoid steps that might provoke aggravation of tension on the state border," it said.

"The chiefs of border services discussed issues of the implementation of the existing protocols on the stabilization of the situation in the border territories in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Apart from that, they exchanged views on the current situation on the border and outlined areas of development in bilateral border cooperation," it said, adding that the sides "shared the opinion" that measures to strengthen cooperation and confidence, to maintain stability on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border are "a major contribution to peace and stability in Central Asia."

Now and then, conflicts flare up at disputed sections of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. Thus, more than 60 people were killed on the Kyrgyz side of the border in the latest standoff in September. Dushanbe and Bishkek continue to negotiate the completion of the demarcation and delimitation of the shared border of more than 900 kilometers.

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