Both sides have reported calm on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border as a day-old cease-fire appeared to be holding and more than 40 people were being mourned from some of the worst clashes in decades on their disputed frontier.

A joint Kyrgyz-Tajik military commission reported finding an unexploded rocket embedded in a residence in the area as the group inspected the scene of 24 hours of intense violence on April 28-29.

Kyrgyzstan is observing two days of official mourning for 34 people who died in Batken Province. One hundred and seventy-eight more were reported injured on the Kyrgyz side, seven of them still in grave condition.

Some 30,000 Kyrgyz villagers were reportedly evacuated from their homes.

Fifteen people were thought to have been killed on the Tajik side and 90 more injured, according to RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, although Tajik authorities did not disclose casualty figures.

The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry said in a statement on May 2 that “the situation in all districts and villages of Batken Province on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border is stable and calm.”

The violence followed a dispute over the installation of surveillance cameras at a water-distribution point near Tajikistan’s Vorukh exclave, drawing in security forces from both countries.


Kyrgyz security officials at one point accused Tajik forces of using MI-24 helicopter gunships to shoot at Kyrgyz villages.

Kyrgyz reports say about 100 structures, including dozens of homes, three border checkpoints, a medical center, a police station, and two schools, were damaged.

The heads of national security for the post-Soviet, Central Asian neighbors agreed to the pullback during a crisis meeting on May 1.

The meeting of the Tajik and Kyrgyz delegations followed a telephone conversation between Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon.

The European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and Russia have all urged both sides to respect the cease-fire agreement.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan both host Russian military bases.

Human Rights Watch has urged an immediate investigation to hold either side responsible for laws-of-war violations against civilians.

Like many other border areas in Central Asia, almost half of the 970-kilometer-long Kyrgyz-Tajik border has not been demarcated, leading to tensions for the past 30 years.

BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Tajik ambassador and handed him a note protesting the detainment of two Kyrgyz men by Tajik authorities near a disputed segment of the border between the two countries.

The ministry said on April 26 that Deputy Foreign Minister Nurlan Niyazaliev met with Tajik Ambassador Nazirmad Alizoda to express his concerns over the detainment of the two residents of Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken region.

“The Kyrgyz side has called upon the Tajik side to undertake immediate measures to find out all of the circumstances of the incident, hold all individuals responsible for the situation accountable, and inform the Kyrgyz side about the results,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that Bishkek is ready to cooperate with Dushanbe in efforts to “form conditions in the areas close to the border to secure peace, safety, a friendly neighborhood, and stability.”

The two Kyrgyz nationals disappeared in the Batken region’s Leilek district on April 24 while constructing a house close to a disputed segment of border.

It later turned out that the missing men had been detained by Tajik law enforcement.

On April 25, the men were released and handed to Kyrgyzstan.

Earlier in April, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said during his visit to Tajikistan’s Vorukh exclave within Kyrgyzstan that agreements on almost half of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border have been reached during more than 100 rounds of negotiations between Dushanbe and Bishkek since work on border delimitation started in 2002.

Many border areas in Central Asia’s former Soviet republics have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.

In recent years there have been numerous incidents along the border which in some cases involved deadly gunfire.

BISHKEK — Thousands of people have paid their last respects to to Kyrgyz writer and journalist Beksultan Jakiev, who died at the age of 85 after a long unspecified illness on April 25.

Prime Minister Ulukbek Maripov, Parliament Speaker Talant Mamytov, former President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, and other officials attended the farewell ceremony on April 26 at Bishkek’s Opera and Ballet Theater.

President Sadyr Japarov’s letter of condolence to the late writer’s relatives, friends, and colleagues was read aloud at the ceremony.

Jakiev was known for his books and articles about Kyrgyz culture and history as well as about modern Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia.

One of his most popular books was about the history of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, and its long-time Cold War-era director Azamat Altay.

Jakiev was the recipient of numerous national awards and titles, including Hero of Kyrgyzstan, for his contribution to the former Soviet republic’s literature, culture, and journalism.