Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to a comprehensive cease-fire, after clashes on the border between the two countries resulted in 3 deaths and dozens of wounded.
The correspondent said that the prime ministers of the two countries agreed to take swift measures to reduce tension on the borders. They also stressed refraining from resolving border disputes using force, and expressed their readiness to settle the border dispute between their countries.
Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense announced that the border guards began withdrawing their vehicles from the border with Tajikistan, in implementation of the de-escalation measures.
Earlier, Interfax said that the toll from border clashes in northern Kyrgyzstan had risen to two dead and more than 15 wounded.
For its part, the Tajik authorities announced the killing of 3 of its citizens and the wounding of 31 in clashes with Kyrgyz forces in the Batkin border region.
Kyrgyz forces in a village near the border of Tajikistan today (communication sites)
Mutual bombardment
The Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted the Kyrgyz border guards as announcing control of a Tajik border point, adding that Kyrgyz President Sadr Jabarov held a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the clashes.
The Kyrgyz National Security Council said in a statement that its special forces took control of this site in response to bombing carried out by Tajik forces, which caused a fire to break out at a border point controlled by Kyrgyzstan.
On the other hand, the Tajik border guards said that the Kyrgyz army fired at the Tajik forces on the border strip between the two countries.
The clashes between the two sides erupted yesterday at the border between the Tajik province of Chukd and the Kyrgyz province of Batkin, due to a water reserve and a water pumping station located on the Esfara River, which both parties say is their property.
The border tension between the two countries began yesterday with an exchange of stone throwing between the people of both sides, before the matter developed into an exchange of fire between the forces of the two countries today.