Moscow is studying the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, where shootings have been reported, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"I can say that we are now studying the situation," she said at a briefing in Moscow.
The border services of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan reported Wednesday that a conflict broke out on the Batken section of the border because representatives of the Tajik side were trying to install surveillance cameras on power line poles. Representatives of the Kyrgyz side objected and began to cut down the pole. After that, the participants of the conflict started throwing stones at each other.
On Thursday night the conflict escalated and the shooting started. As a result, two citizens of Tajikistan were seriously wounded, 16 people from the Kyrgyz side were injured and one killed. Later, the State National Security Committee of Kyrgyzstan reported about the exchange of fire on the border between the military units of the two countries and accused the Tajik side of placing mortar shells.
The Kyrgyz-Tajik section of the state border periodically becomes a conflict zone between the local population or border guards of the two countries. The main reason is indelimited areas, where it is impossible to determine where the border between the states lies.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from RIA Novosti