DUSHANBE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2022) Tajikistan accuses Kyrgyzstan of a provocation on the border, the State Committee for National Security said in a statement.
"On January 27 at about 17:20 (12:20 GMT), a group of 50 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, residents of the village council of Aksai, Batken region, forcibly stopped on a bridge near the village of Khoja Alo a Porter car of a Tajik citizen transporting sand to the village of Somoniyon, Isfara Region. To prevent such illegal actions of citizens of Kyrgyzstan, a meeting was scheduled at the level of representatives of local authorities and law enforcement agencies of the city of Isfara, Sughd Region of Tajikistan," the statement says.
According to Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz side did not arrive at the meeting, instead, at about 18:10 (13:10 GMT), the Kyrgyz border guards took up firing positions along the perimeter of the bridge (275 meters) and opened fire from small arms on civilians in Tajikistan.
Relocation of individual paramilitary units and subunits, as well as military equipment, to the border areas of the Batken region continues, the Tajik side said.
At the moment, intense fire continues from Kyrgyzstan in the direction of Tajikistan on local residents, vehicles and various infrastructure facilities, and border outposts are fired from mortars.
According to the national security committee, flights of unmanned aerial vehicles were recorded violating the airspace of Tajikistan.
"To date, the intensity of the fire from the Kyrgyz Republic is rapidly gaining momentum. There are casualties among civilians and border guards of the Republic of Tajikistan," the national security committee said.
