(RepublicanInformer.com)- After border confrontations between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan broke out last week, dozens of people have died.
On Friday, fighting broke out near the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Both sides accused the other of employing drones, tanks, mortars, rocket artillery, and mortars against both military and civilian objectives.
Later that day, a cease-fire was finally proclaimed and had, to some extent, held. However, the two Central Asian neighbors have each charged the other with breaking the contract.
Kyrgyzstan announced on Sunday that there had been 12 deaths due to the border violence. The official death toll now stands at 36 for the country, while the number has been progressively climbing on both sides of the border as the governments assess the damage.
As of right now, Tajikistan has not disclosed precise numbers for casualties. According to Reuters, at least 100 people have died since Friday, including civilian and military casualties.
Both sides were seen deploying mortars, tanks, and armored vehicles in videos posted on Telegram. According to one video, a drone operated by the Kyrgyz Republic was deployed to attack a Tajik lorry.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the leaders of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic to end the bloodshed. According to Euro News, Putin “called on the parties to prevent further escalation and to take steps to resolve the situation as soon as possible, and only through peaceful, political, and diplomatic means.”
Many former Soviet countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus have experienced border disputes. The border between the two countries, which both declared independence from the USSR in the early 1990s, is disputed for nearly half its 970-kilometer length.
The Kremlin has previously mediated conflicts between the two former Soviet republics.
Flare-ups have once occurred in the southern Kyrgyzstan provinces of Batken and Osh, which border Tajikistan. According to Euro News, the war has forced thousands of residents to leave this area.
Since April 2021, when skirmishes between the two sides led to at least 50 fatalities, the most recent uptick in violence has occurred.
