LIVE UPDATES: Tajikistan's Military Fires Mortars at Kyrgyzstan's Village, Bishkek Says

The number of wounded Kyrgyz nationals in armed clashes on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border has risen to 121, the Kyrgyz Health Ministry told Sputnik on Saturday.

"As of 14:00 a.m. [local time, 08:00 GMT] on September 17, the number of wounded admitted to healthcare facilities is 121, and seven of them have been sent to ambulatory medical care," the ministry's spokesperson said.

Large-scale clashes on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan began on Friday morning. The sides accused each other of shelling. Serious fighting between the military of the two countries lasted all day almost along the entire common border. The ceasefire was achieved only by nightfall. However, on Saturday morning, the parties reported shelling from both sides. The Kyrgyz side reported 24 dead as a result of the clashes.

At 07.30 a.m. local time on Saturday, the commanders of the border troops of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan held a meeting on the fulfillment of the conditions of the declared ceasefire. The parties discussed the stabilization of the situation, the return of additional forces and equipment to their original positions.

The Kyrgyz-Tajik state border often becomes a conflict zone between local residents and border guards due to the non-delimited areas.

Kyrgyz border troops are violating the ceasefire requirements after another incident of confrontation on the poorly marked border, the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan (SCNS) said on Saturday.

The committee claims that at 11:10 a.m. local time (05:10 GMT), the commander of the 707th military unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, stationed in the former school building of the village of Koktosh of the Batken district, contrary to the requirements of the ceasefire agreement, voluntarily gave the order to fire from all types of weapons at the territory of Tajikistan.

"This situation indicates that individual commanders do not obey the central headquarters of the armed forces of Kyrgyzstan," the press service of the SCNS noted.

On Friday night, a mosque, located near a school, was destroyed in the village Ovchiqalacha on northwestern Tajikistan by a combat unmanned aerial vehicle, the SCNS said, adding that dozens of residential houses of citizens, service points, public and personal transport vehicles were also shelled in this area.

"There is also deployment of additional military forces and equipment of Kyrgyzstan on the border and the strengthening of combat positions, which indicates readiness for the next provocative actions of the Kyrgyz military to destabilize the situation," the SCNS press service said.

Large-scale clashes on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan began on Friday morning. The sides accused each other of shelling. Serious fighting between the military of the two countries lasted all day almost along the entire perimeter of the border. The ceasefire was achieved only by nightfall. However, on Saturday morning, the parties reported shelling from both sides.

At 07.30 a.m. local time on Saturday, the commanders of the border troops of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan held a meeting on the fulfillment of the conditions of the declared ceasefire. The parties discussed the stabilization of the situation, the return of additional forces and equipment to their original positions.

The Kyrgyz-Tajik state border often becomes a conflict zone between local residents and border guards due to the non-delimited areas.

Kyrgyzstan’s border guards told Sputnik on Saturday that Tajikistan’s military stopped shelling the Kyrgyz border region of Osh after talks were held between the two national border agencies.

"After the negotiations, Tajikistan stopped firing artillery shells and mortar rounds at positions of Kyrgyz border guards in the villages of Teshik-Tash, Karamyk and Karool-Debe in Chong-Alay district in the Osh region at 2:20 p.m. [8:20 GMT]," a spokesperson for the Kyrgyz border guard agency said.

Clashes erupted on Friday along the border of the Osh region after Central Asian neighbors accused each other of attacks. Heavy fighting subsided by night but resumed on Saturday morning. Dozens have been killed and more than a hundred wounded.

The head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas held a telephone conversation with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Zheenbek Kulubaev on the Bishkek-Dushanbe border clashes, the parties consider the use of force and heavy arms unacceptable, the CSTO secretariat said on Saturday.

"At the initiative of the Kyrgyz side, the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Zheenbek Kulubaev. The Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan informed about the difficult situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in the Batken region in connection with the fighting," the CSTO secretariat said.

Zas and Kulubaev underscored the importance of an immediate ceasefire.

"The parties consider the use of force and heavy weapons, including artillery and multiple rocket launchers, unacceptable," the secretariat said.

The diplomats noted that the conflict should be resolved by peaceful means.

The Kyrgyz military fired with all types of heavy arms at the Sarhadchi checkpoint of the Laksh district, which is 167 miles east of Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, border troops of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan (SCNS), the press service of the SCNS told Sputnik on Saturday.

"At 11:50 local time [05:50 GMT] the armed forces of Kyrgyzstan fired at the Sarhadchi checkpoint of the Laksh border district units with heavy automatic weapons. The shelling still continues," the press service said.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is closely monitoring the situation on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, the organization’s secretariat said on Saturday.

"The CSTO secretariat is seriously concerned and alarmed by the fighting that took place on September 14-16, 2022 on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border with the use of heavy weapons, as a result of which there are dead and injured on both sides, as well as civilian infrastructure destructed," CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zaynetdinov said.

In this regard, the CSTO welcomes the ceasefire and the negotiations that have begun between the border services of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

"We are confident that the parties will find a mutually acceptable resolution of this complex border issue, a reduction of tensions and prevention of further escalation of the conflict. We consider the use of force unacceptable. Only political and diplomatic methods should be used to resolve contradictions," Zaynetdinov said.

The Tajik military shelled the positions of Kyrgyz frontier guards in the southeastern Osh region, the press office of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (UKMK) told Sputnik on Saturday.

"As of 11:15 a.m. [local time, 05:15 GMT] the Tajik side fired mortars and artillery at the positions of Kyrgyz frontier guards in the villages of Teshik-Tash, Karamyk and Karool-Dobo in the Chong-Alay district of Osh region. The units of the border guard service of the UKMK in the Osh region, fired back," the statement said.

In order to de-escalate the incident the Kyrgyz officers were the first to unilaterally stop shooting, the spokesperson said.

"Negotiations between the border representatives of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are expected," the UKMK added.

The Tajik military fired mortars at the Kyrgyz village of Dostuk, the press office of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (UKMK) told Sputnik on Saturday.

"As of 11:15 a.m. [local time, 05:15 GMT] the Tajik side fired mortars at the village of Dostuk in the Batken Region. The Tajik side opened fire on the village from three mortar units," the office's spokesperson said.

The units of the border service of the UKMK, stationed in the Batken region, counter the enemy's attack, the spokesperson added.

The number of wounded Kyrgyz nationals in armed clashes on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border has risen to 103, the Kyrgyz Health Ministry told Sputnik on Saturday.

The Kyrgyz side on Friday reported 24 dead and 87 injured as a result of the clashes.

"As of 9:00 a.m. [local time, 03:00 GMT] on September 17, the number of wounded admitted to healthcare facilities was 103, and five of them have been sent to ambulatory medical care," the ministry's spokesperson said.

The press office of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security told Sputnik on Saturday morning that the Tajik military fired mortars at the Kyrgyz village of Pasky-Aryk around 8:50 a.m. local time (02:50 GMT).

The Tajik military fired mortars at the Kyrgyz village of Pasky-Aryk, the press office of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (UKMK) told Sputnik on Saturday.

"In violation of agreements reached earlier, from 8:50 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. [local time, from 02:50 to 02:55 GMT], the Tajik side fired mortars at the village of Pasky-Aryk in the Batken Region," the office's spokesperson said.

As of 9:00 a.m. on Friday, the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border remains tense, he added.

"Personnel of the units of the border guard service of Kyrgyzstan's UKMK, deployed in the Batken Region, are taking measures to stabilize the existing situation," the spokesperson said.

He added that the night on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, where fierce armed clashes took place between the armed forces of the two countries on Friday, "passed quietly, without incidents."