The security chiefs of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have sat down for talks to stop fighting on the border between the two countries that so far has killed at least 54 people and wounded more than 100.
The Kyrgyz border service announced the new round of talks as the two former Soviet nations traded blame for shelling that resumed on Saturday morning after what appeared to be an overnight respite.
The fighting, which started on Wednesday for no obvious or publicly announced reason, intensified on Friday.
Both sides accused each other of using tanks, mortars, rocket artillery and assault drones to attack outposts and nearby settlements.
Kyrgyzstan’s Health Ministry said early on Saturday that the bodies of 24 people killed in the clashes were delivered to hospitals in the Batken region that borders Tajikistan.
Kyrgyz hospitals and clinics also treated 103 people wounded in the shelling, the ministry said, and about 137,000 were evacuated from the conflict area.
Tajikistan has not given any official casualty numbers, but security sources said 30 people had been killed this week, including 15 who were in a mosque that Tajikistan said was struck by a Kyrgyz drone.
Tajik authorities also accused Kyrgyz forces of targeting civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings.
Tajikistan's security officials said Kyrgyzstan was amassing troops and military equipment near the border in preparation for "provocations".
It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the fighting on the tense border between the Central Asian neighbours.
An attempt to establish a cease-fire on Friday afternoon quickly failed and artillery shelling resumed later in the day.
The border guard chiefs of the two countries met at about midnight and agreed to create a joint monitoring group to help end the hostilities.
Both countries host Russian military bases and are members of several Russia-led military and economic blocs.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov were attending a meeting of a Russia- and China-led regional body this week when the border violence erupted.
The border between the two countries, dating to the Soviet era, is poorly demarcated and minor border disputes are frequent.
The last major clashes, which left 21 dead, broke out in April 2021 in a dispute over a reservoir and pumping station, claimed by both sides, on the Isfara river.
ABC/wires
