BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has called on citizens to ignore unconfirmed web reports about last week's deadly clashes along the Kyrgyzstan's border with Tajikistan as his nation observes a mourning day for those killed in the fighting.
In an address to the nation on January 19, Japarov called for "patience and peace," claiming that "manipulative" information is being posted online to "disrupt friendly ties with Kyrgyzstan's neighbors."
"We have a capable army and courageous warriors that can prevent any attempts to illegally cross our borders -- and they explicitly proved it by repelling all such attempts to illegally enter our territory," Japarov said.
"We continue our efforts to resolve the Kyrgyz-Tajik border issues in a purely peaceful way," Japarov said in the televised address.
The Tajik Foreign Ministry said the key to resolving the conflict lay in negotiations, and it reiterated its position that Kyrgyzstan had instigated the fighting.
The clashes in Kyrgyzstan's southern region of Batken on September 14-17 left at least 59 Kyrgyz citizens dead, the authorities said earlier.
WATCH: Fresh clashes erupted at the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on September 16, with both sides accusing each other of using heavy weaponry in fighting that has killed at least three people and wounded dozens over three days.
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Tanks, Firing, And Evacuations Amid Kyrgyz-Tajik Clashes
Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Sodiq Imomi said on September 19 that at least 41 Tajik citizens lost their lives during the clashes.
Imomi told a briefing that ethnic Tajiks who were not Tajik citizens were being detained in Kyrgyzstan and that Kyrgyz drones had been spotted flying into Tajik territory overnight.
He accused Kyrgyzstan of not complying with the terms of a truce and said that Kyrgyzstan, unlike Tajikistan, kept additional forces and heavy weaponry near the border and was "signaling a readiness for new violence."
Based on the agreement, both countries should withdraw additional forces from the border and work together to ensure stability on the border area.
The two countries' foreign ministries accused each other of "armed aggression" with the usage of heavy artillery, multiple-missile launchers, and mortars.
Many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the Soviet Union's collapse 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.
Almost half of the 970-kilometer Kyrgyz-Tajik border has yet to be demarcated, leading to recurring tensions since the two countries gained independence more than three decades ago.