Reports: 6 wounded in Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border clash

MOSCOW (AP) — Local news reports say fighting between the border guards services of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan has wounded at least six people. The conflict reportedly began near the Kyrgyz city of Batken after Tajik border guards closed a road that leads to sizable towns in Kyrgyzstan’s west. Kyrgyz authorities say the Tajik guards have fired with mortars and grenade-launchers. Tajik authorities haven’t made statements about the conflict. But the Tajik service of Russian news service Sputnik reported Thursday that six Tajiks have been wounded. The serpentine Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border is often a tense area. At least 55 people died in clashes in 2021 that erupted near the border in a dispute over water rights and the installation of surveillance cameras by Tajikistan.