Conflict between Borders of the Countries
At the end of April 2021 the armed conflict broke out in the border areas of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. As a result, more than 200 citizens of both countries were injured and more than 20 people died according to preliminary information. On April 30, both sides agreed on a complete ceasefire.
The length of the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is about 980 kilometers; dozens of sections remained under consideration after the collapse of the USSR. The reasons for the ongoing conflicts are disputes over the access to water and lands in the border areas between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
On April 28, a conflict broke out in the Border which is located on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Sugd and Botken regions). According to the information of Kyrgyz border service, the Tajik side has begun installing observation binoculars on electric poles. The Kyrgyz border guards opposed to it and began to cut the column with a video camera. There was a verbal skirmish between the participants in the incident, after which they threw stones to each other. As the result on April 29, the conflict escalated into an armed conflict where the military of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan participated.
As Kyrgyzstan informed, on April 29, the situation in the border area escalated due to the provocative actions of citizens of Tajikistan, who began to throw stones to Kyrgyz people and their houses. Then Tajik people began firing from the hunting rifles to passing cars of Kyrgyz inhabitants.
In response to those actions of the Tajik security forces, the Kyrgyz special forces captured the frontier post of Tajikistan "Khoja Alo". Additional forces and means were mobilized along the entire perimeter of the both Kyrgyz-Tajik borders.
Tajik border guards informed that the Kyrgyz military opened fire on Tajik border guards at the Golovnoy water point on April 29. as it was mentioned in the massage of Tajikistan, Dushanbe assessed the action of Kirgiz side as a violation of bilateral agreements with Tajikistan. According to the maps of 1929-1927, as well as 1989 this object belongs to the Republic of Tajikistan and since 1968 it has been used for irrigation in the border areas used byTajikistan, Kirgizstan and Uzbekistan.
First Uzbekistan reacted to the conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan which is in the neighborhood with these two countries. The President of Uzbekistan Mirziyoyev had a telephone conversation with Presidents Sodir Japarov and Emomali Rahmon. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassymzhomart Tokayev also declared. Russia stated that they were ready to resolve any disputed issues by political and diplomatic methods and the press secretary of Russia noted that “President Putin is always ready to act as an intermediary.”
The European Union informed that they are ready to provide advisory assistance within its regional programs on border and water management in the frame of a political solution to border issues.