At least 24 people have died, and several others injured, as fighting along the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan resumed Friday.
The Health Ministry of Kyrgyzstan announced early Saturday that 24 bodies had been delivered to hospitals in the Batken region, which borders Tajikistan.
According to the ministry, an additional 87 people were injured.
Early this week’s border clashes turned into extensive warfare on Friday that involved tanks, artillery, and rocket launchers. Tajik forces fired rockets at Batken, the regional capital, as part of the shelling.
According to the Emergencies Ministry of Kyrgyzstan, 136,000 people were evacuated from the battleground.
Sadyr Zhaparov and Emomali Rakhmon, the presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, met Friday in Uzbekistan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
According to a statement on Zhaparov’s website, the two leaders discussed the border situation and agreed to charge the relevant authorities with withdrawing troops and putting an end to the fighting.
In 2021, a dispute over water rights and the installation of surveillance cameras by Tajikistan led to clashes near the border that killed at least 55 people.
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