Incident on border. Head of Kyrgyz Border Service leaves for Batken Oblast

Bishkek, April 29, 2021 . / Kabar /. First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for National Security, Director of Kyrgyzstan’s State Border Service Ularbek Sharsheyev has left for Batken Oblast on Thursday. The press service of the State Border Service said that as of 1:00 p.m. April 29, the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik section of the state border is relatively stable with elements of tension. In order to ensure the safety of Kyrgyz citizens, as well as to prevent offenses in the border areas and escalation of the situation, the border guards stationed in Batken Oblast are on heightened duty. Situation on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan escalated on April 28 after citizens of Tajikistan began installing video surveillance cameras at the water intake in the village of Kok-Tash in Batken region. As a result of the joint altercation, residents of the two countries began throwing stones at each other. Subsequently, the Tajik side began shooting at passing cars of Kyrgyz citizens with hunting rifles. As a result, four Kyrgyz citizens were injured. Three were injured by stones, one suffered a gunshot wound to the eye. The situation at the border is assessed to be aggravated. People gathered have not yet dispersed. People are being evacuated from areas where the situation has escalated. Heads of Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Oblast and Sughd Region of Tajikistan are negotiating