BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan's Border Guard Service says that gunfire has erupted along the volatile border with Tajikistan, a long-standing flashpoint for violence between the two Central Asian nations.
According to a statement from the service on June 3, Kyrgyz officers had to open fire after Tajik border guards shot at the Kyrgyz side, including using a mortar launcher, in response to being ordered to withdraw from Kyrgyz territory that they allegedly entered in the Bulak-Bashy district of the southern Batken region.
In a separate statement, the Kyrgyz Border Guard Service said there was an unspecified number of wounded on both sides.
The Kyrgyz Health Ministry said two Kyrgyz border guards were wounded, adding that one of them was in serious condition.
Tajik officials have yet to officially comment on the latest shooting incident along the contested segments of the border, where such incidents have become regular events in recent years.
Many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the Soviet Union's collapse.
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 repeated tensions since the two countries gained independence three decades ago.
In April, a Tajik border guard died of wounds he sustained in a shoot-out, while two Kyrgyz border guards and four Kyrgyz civilians were wounded.
In April 2021, clashes involving military personnel along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border left dozens of people dead on both sides.