BATKEN, Kyrgyzstan -- Eleven Kyrgyz citizens have been released from Tajik custody after being held on charges of crossing the border illegally amid an ongoing border dispute between the two Central Asian nations, according to one of the men and his father.
Aidarbek Khaidarov told RFE/RL on July 10 that he and 10 other Kyrgyz nationals who had been detained at different times since last year were released in recent days. He said he could not give more details as he was ordered not to disclose any information regarding the release.
Khaidarov's father, Umarbai Khaidarov, told RFE/RL that the 11 men were handed to the Kyrgyz side near the Kyzyl-Bel border control point in the southern region of Batken.
"Six of them were taken to the police station in the village of Arka, others were taken to Bishkek, as they most likely have permanent residences in the Chui region," Umarbai Khaidarov said.
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have not yet commented officially on the reported release of the 11 Kyrgyz men.
On June 3, a court in the Batken region released 11 Tajik citizens who had been held by Kyrgyz authorities on the same charges.
In late May, the chief prosecutors of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan held talks and agreed on an exchange of citizens detained for illegal border crossing.
Arrests on charges of illegal border crossing by the authorities of the two nations have increased since exchanges of gunfire along a disputed segment of the border in the spring of 2021 left 36 Kyrgyz and 19 Tajik citizens dead.
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 repeated tensions since the two countries gained independence three decades ago.
Eleven Kyrgyz Nationals Held On Border-Crossing Charges Said Released From Tajik Custody
Aidarbek Khaidarov (second from right) told RFE/RL on July 10 that he and 10 other Kyrgyz nationals who had been detained at different times since last year were released in recent days.