Kyrgyzstan and Tajik border guards clashed with reports of dead Border Conflict News

Four Kyrgyz soldiers have been reported injured, and Tajikistan has been killed by civilians and border guards.

Victims of Kyrgyzstan and Tajik border guards have been exchanged for fighting in a roadblock in a recent clash between former Soviet residents, following a similar violent incident that killed dozens last year.

Kyrgyzstan’s Batken provincial government says four soldiers were injured in Thursday’s clashes, according to the local news website 24.kg.

Tajikistan said there were casualties among its civilians and border guards, but did not provide any data. A Tajik security source said one person had been killed and 11 others injured.

The border between the two countries both of which take on Russian military bases and are closely linked to Moscow, which is badly restricted.

Stanislav Zas, secretary general of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), called for an immediate ceasefire at the border, the RIA news agency reported.

Zas said he spoke by telephone with top security officials in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

“The armed confrontation on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border must be stopped immediately,” the news agency said.

“I am confident that the leadership of the two CSTO member states will find mutually acceptable ways to resolve this complex border issue.”

He also said that the CSTO, of which the two countries are members, is ready to help resolve the conflict.

Kyrgyz authorities say Tajik citizens have blocked a road between the Batken province center and the town of Isfana.

Border guards on both sides managed to unblock the road, but then the fighting began.

Kyrgyz authorities said in a statement that the two sides later agreed to a ceasefire at midnight, but that fighting resumed 10 minutes later.

The Tajik border guards said their soldiers were defending Tajik civilians and it was the Kyrgyz side that opened the first fire.

The Kyrgyz National Security Commission said on Thursday night that two telephone conversations had not yet given a ceasefire at 17:00 GMT.

“In addition, (Tajikistan) continues to push military equipment and heavy personnel to the border,” Ularbe Sharsheyev, head of the Kyrgyz border service, said.

At least 49 people were killed in clashes between the two countries last April it escalated from a similar border clash and aroused fears of a wider conflict.