ex-soviet republics
Number of dead in border dispute in Central Asia increases
A destroyed house in Batken, Kyrgyzstan. The heavy fighting in the border dispute between the two ex-Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia continues. photo
© Danil Usmanov/AP/dpa
The two former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are fighting bitterly over the border. The situation remains extremely tense. More and more deaths are being reported.
In the heavy fighting in the border dispute between the two ex-Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia, the number of dead has continued to rise. So far, 36 bodies and around 130 injuries have been registered, said the Ministry of Health in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on Sunday. On Friday there was talk of 24 deaths. The government in authoritarian Tajikistan has now given the number of deaths for the first time: more than 30 citizens have been killed since Wednesday. According to both sides, the situation on the contested border was still extremely tense.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago, the two countries have been at odds at numerous points over the course of the approximately 1,000-kilometer border. Battles flare up again and again. According to the civil defense in Bishkek, around 137,000 people had to be brought to safety on the Kyrgyz side. In several places, collections of relief supplies were made to get the humanitarian situation under control. One focus of the fighting was around the Kyrgyz border town of Batken.
The high mountain countries bordering China blamed each other for the escalation. Ceasefires were agreed again and again, which were broken a little later. Heavy artillery, attack helicopters and drones are said to be deployed in the region. Uniformed and civilians died. A reporter from the German Press Agency in the Tajik capital Dushanbe reported that this time quiet border regions were also fought over for a long time.
After talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev said that Bishkek was merely defending itself. There is serious damage to infrastructure, including schools. Guterres also wants to exchange views on the situation with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Schaparov on Tuesday in New York on the fringes of the UN General Assembly – and with the Tajik side, it was said.
According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on his counterparts in a phone call on Sunday to settle the conflict peacefully. At the same time he offered support.
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, Azerbaijan attacked its neighbor Armenia in the South Caucasus. Observers fear that such tensions will increase because Russia, which actually has a strong military presence in the entire region, is currently waging war against Ukraine.
Statement from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Statements from the Kyrgyz authorities on Sunday