Guards trade fire along Tajik-Kyrgyz border

Kyrgyzstan accused Central Asian neighbor Tajikistan of firing towards its troops on Thursday, leaving at least six wounded in an outbreak of violence following deadly clashes at the border last year.

"The Tajik side is using mortars and grenade launchers," in the attacks, Kyrgyzstan's national security committee said in a statement.

The statement described the situation at the contested border as "tense," after an incident earlier in the day saw citizens of Tajikistan block a strategic road in the region. 

The road was later reopened, "but the situation worsened due to the use of weapons and fire by the Tajik side on the border units of" Kyrgyzstan, the national security committee statement said. 

Media in both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan reported that women and children in villages close to the site of the conflict began to evacuate after shooting started.

Clashes raise fears of renewed violence

The provincial government said no casualties had been reported. Tajikistan's border guard service had no immediate comment. An official from the local administration of the Tajik border town of Isfara wrote on Facebook that it was the Kyrgyz side which blocked the road.

The border between the two countries, both of which host Russian military bases and are closely allied with Moscow, is poorly demarcated.

Border clashes over land and water are regular occurrences, with border guards often getting involved. However, the shooting that broke out last year between the two militaries, which left more than 50 people dead, was the most severe fighting in years and raised fears that it might escalate into a larger conflict.

lc/msh (AFP, Reuters)