BISHKEK, July 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have agreed to jointly patrol a section of their common border where an armed clash between the two states’ military took place, the Kyrgyz border guard service told ITAR-TASS on Monday. This agreement was reached at a meeting of the head of Kyrgyzstan’s border guard service, Rayimberdi Duishenbiyev with commander of the border troops of the State National Security Committee of Tajikistan Rajabali Rakhmonali.

“At the meeting the sides focused on the issue of cutting the personnel and equipment of units in the border districts to the authorised strength,” the Kyrgyz border guard service said. “To stabilise the situation, it has been decided to guard the border exclusively by squads of the staff-size units of the border services, and to avoid border incidents in the future the parties agreed to jointly patrol the Kyrgyz section Tamdyk and Tajikistani section Bedak.”

The border guard service of Kyrgyzstan also said that at the meeting the sides “reached an agreement on initiating a joint investigation into the border incident by the prosecution agencies of both sides.” “In addition, the parties signed a protocol on the permanent exchange of information on the situation on the border and establishing wire communication between the two states’ border guard units,” the agency said. In addition, the heads of the border agencies of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan made a decision to resume the activity of joint groups for the settlement of border incidents.

On July 10, border guards of the two states engaged in an armed clash with each other for several hours in the area of Tamdyk in the Batken district of Kyrgyzstan. One serviceman was killed and seven wounded in the incident.