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Burnt out military vehicle on the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border
Photo: VLADIMIR PIROGOV / REUTERS
The conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan continues to escalate.
In the dispute over the border between the two former Soviet republics in Central Asia, fierce fighting has flared up.
Both states accuse each other of using heavy weapons and shelling.
Kyrgyzstan also reported more than 30 injuries in its own ranks.
"Heavy fighting is taking place along the entire Kyrgyz-Tajik border," said the Kyrgyz border guard.
Officials also said Tajik security forces opened fire.
Clashes broke out along the entire border.
The Tajik side also used tanks.
The Tajik side also confirmed heavy fighting on the border.
She accused Kyrgyz forces of attacking one of her border posts and seven villages with heavy weapons.
According to the authorities in the town of Isfara, a civilian was killed and three others injured.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago, the two countries have been at odds at dozens of places over the course of the approximately 1,000-kilometer border.
Armed clashes break out again and again.
Border guards exchanged gunfire as early as the middle of the week.
Two Tajik officials were killed and six soldiers and five civilians injured.
For its part, Kyrgyzstan reported two wounded soldiers and two injured civilians.
Conflicts that have been smoldering for years have also recently escalated in other regions of the post-Soviet space.
A few days ago, for example, the authoritarian Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus attacked its neighbor Armenia.
Observers fear that such tensions will increase because Russia, which actually has a strong military presence in the entire region, is currently engaged in the war against Ukraine.
asc/dpa/Reuters
