Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan announced on Sunday that the death toll from their border conflict has risen to 81, and as a fragile ceasefire between the two countries holds for a second day, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin held two phone calls with the two countries' presidents, urging them to dialogue.
The Kyrgyz Ministry of Health said that the fighting killed 46 people, and that it had evacuated approximately 137,000 from the "invasion" area, and media in Kyrgyzstan reported that some of the displaced had already begun to return to their homes.
The Ministry of Health also reported that 140 people were injured, while Emergency Situations Minister Bubek Akyebe confirmed that 4 Kyrgyz soldiers were considered missing.
On the other hand, the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs published on Facebook a preliminary death toll, indicating that 35 people were killed and 25 wounded in the battles that took place between last Wednesday and Friday, stressing that most of the dead were civilians.
It did not report any mass evacuation from the area.
She added that the Kyrgyz army killed 12 people in a drone strike targeting a mosque, while 6 others were killed in another march attack on a school and an additional 7 in a shooting at an ambulance.
The Tajik Foreign Ministry said that Kyrgyzstan is continuing a media campaign against it, and noted that Kyrgyz President Sadir Jabarov used the term "enemy" to refer to Tajikistan in his speech on Saturday.
Forces from the two former Soviet republics clashed over a border dispute from 14 to 16 September, and they exchanged accusations of using tanks, artillery and attack drones to target border military sites and nearby residential communities.
The two sides agreed to a cease-fire on Friday, and the agreement has held since then, despite what was said about a number of bombings after it.
Russian diplomacy
On the other hand, the Kremlin said that Putin spoke by phone with Kyrgyz President Sadr Jabarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon today, stressing that Putin urged the two sides to prevent further escalation and take measures to resolve the situation "only by peaceful, political and diplomatic means and as soon as possible."
The Kremlin added that Putin confirmed Russia's readiness to provide the necessary assistance to ensure stability in the border region between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
On Saturday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the leaders of the two parties to "encourage dialogue for a permanent ceasefire," according to his spokesman.