Tajikistan continues to pull troops and heavy military equipment to the border. This was reported on Saturday, May 1, at the Kyrgyz border department.
“The Tajik side completely blocked the road in the Tort-Kocho area,” the border service said.
The ministry added that in the area of the Kok-Tash point of the Batken region, the Tajik side periodically fires at vehicles.
On May 1, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon discussed by telephone a complete ceasefire on the border of the countries and the withdrawal of the military from the deployment zone. In addition, the leaders of the states raised issues related to the activities of the working groups in the conflict zone.
Earlier that day, Deputy Minister of Health of Kyrgyzstan Jalalidin Rakhmatullayev said that the number of victims on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border increased to 166 people, 33 people died.
On May 1 and 2, Kyrgyzstan declared days of national mourning for those killed during the shootout on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, the corresponding decree was approved by the President of the Republic Sadyr Japarov.
The conflict took place on April 29 on one of the sections of the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It was preceded by a conflict between local residents in the area of the Golovnoy water distribution point, the ownership of which is disputed by both parties.
By the evening, the parties agreed on a ceasefire from 17:00 Moscow time. They committed themselves to withdrawing forces to the places of their former deployment. But on April 30, the skirmish at the border resumed. Tajik security forces fired at the village of Kyzyl-Bel in the area bordering Kyrgyzstan.