A series of sporadic border clashes resumed between

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

on 27 January 2022, following a series of clashes in 2021 between the two countries. Kyrgyzstan officials said that the clashes escalated on 14 September 2022, with Tajik forces using tanks, APCs, and mortars to enter at least one Kyrgyz village and shelling the airport of the Kyrgyz town of

Batken Batken (also called Batkent) is a town in southwestern Kyrgyzstan, on the southern fringe of the Fergana Valley. It is the administrative seat of Batken Region. Since 2000, it is a city of regional significance, i.e. not part of a district. Howeve ...

and adjacent areas. Both nations blamed each other for the fighting. The border conflict continued for two days, after which the parties were able to agree to a

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

on the night of 16 September 2022, which only held for about a day. Kyrgyzstan's President

Sadyr Japarov Sadyr Nurgojo uulu Japarov (born 6 December 1968) is a Kyrgyzstani politician, diplomat, and oligarch who has been serving as the sixth president of Kyrgyzstan since 28 January 2021. He previously served as the 22nd prime minister in the 2020 ...

said in a televised address that his country would continue efforts to resolve the Kyrgyz–Tajik border issues in a purely peaceful way. Tajikistan's foreign ministry stated that the key to resolving the conflict lay in negotiations, and it reiterated its position that Kyrgyzstan had instigated the fighting. Russian news agencies reported that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had agreed to pull out additional military hardware and forces from the border, citing a statement from the head of the

Sughd Region Sughd Province, also referred to as the Sogdia Region, and Leninabad before 2001, is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in the historical Sogdiana, it is located in the north ...

of Tajikistan. On 20 September 2022, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed a peace deal.

Background

Historical context

The territories that comprise present-day Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, both formerly part of the

Khanate of Kokand The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. It was ruled by the Ming tribe of Uzbeks. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, a ...

, were conquered by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in the 19th century. In the 1920s, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

imposed

delimitation Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...

in the two regions which resulted in enclaves. Both countries became independent in 1991 when the

Soviet Union dissolved The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of t ...

. Both countries are also members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and

Collective Security Treaty Organization The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, ) is an Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Th ...

(CSTO), and are theoretically allied to each other.

Previous clashes

A border conflict started between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on 28 April 2021. The events surrounding the conflict's outbreak are disputed, but clashes reportedly began due to an old

water dispute Water conflict typically refers to violence or disputes associated with access to, or control of, water resources, or the use of water or water systems as weapons or casualties of conflicts. The term ''water war'' is colloquially used in media ...

between the two countries, near the

Vorukh Vorukh ( Russian and Tajik: Ворух; ) is a jamoat in northern Tajikistan that forms part of the city of Isfara in Sughd Region. , the jamoat had a total population of 45.000. Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security said in a statement that ten of its citizens were injured, six of them servicemen, the rest civilians. On the other side, Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry said that at least 11 of its citizens were being treated for moderately serious injuries. Kyrgyzstan authorities stated that the blocking of a road between the provincial center of

and the Kyrgyz village of

Isfana Razzakov (; ), formerly known as Isfana, is a town in the extreme western end of Batken Region in southern Kyrgyzstan. The town is located in the southern part of the Fergana Valley, in a region surrounded on three sides by Tajikistan. It was ren ...

by Tajik citizens was the cause of the clashes. On 10 March, an armed incident between border guards at the

Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is long and runs from the tripoint with Uzbekistan to the tripoint with China. Description The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Uzbekistan in the Ferghana Valley. The border proceeds ro ...

, in the area of Teskey,

Batken District Batken () is a district of Batken Region in south-western Kyrgyzstan. Its area is , and its resident population was 91,983 in 2021. The administrative seat lies at the city Batken, itself not part of the district. Population Populated places In ...

, killed a Tajik border guard. Following the incident, officials from the

Batken Region Batken is a Regions of Kyrgyzstan, region of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Batken. It is bounded on the east by Osh Region, on the south, west and north by Tajikistan, and on the northeast by Uzbekistan. The northern part of the region is part of th ...

in Kyrgyzstan and the

in Tajikistan held talks. According to Tajik sources, a border clash occurred on 3 June after Kyrgyz soldiers crossed the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border close to

Vorukh Vorukh ( Russian and Tajik: Ворух; ) is a jamoat in northern Tajikistan that forms part of the city of Isfara in Sughd Region. , the jamoat had a total population of 45.000. Two weeks later, on 14 June, a Tajik border guard was killed and three others injured in a clash with Kyrgyz border troops.

Escalation

On 14 September, one Tajik border guard was killed and two others were wounded during clashes with Kyrgyz guards who accused Tajikistan of taking positions in a

demarcated {{Refimprove, date=January 2008 A political demarcation line is a geopolitical border, often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire. Africa * Moroccan Wall, delimiting the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara from the Sahrawi-c ...

area. Later the same day, two border guards were reported killed and eleven others wounded, five of whom were civilians. On 16 September, the conflict escalated. The use of

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

s and

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

s was reported, as well as the shelling of the

Batken Airport Batken International Airport (Kyrgyz language, Kyrgyz: Баткен эл аралык аэропорту, Russian alphabet, Russian: Баткенский международный аэропорт) is an international airport serving Batken, th ...

in the city of Batken, Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan accused Kyrgyzstan of shelling an outpost and seven border villages with heavy weapons. Tajik forces also entered a Kyrgyz border village. At least 31 injuries were reported by Kyrgyzstan, while one civilian was killed and three others were injured according to Tajik forces in

Isfara Isfara (; ) is a city in Sughd Region in northern Tajikistan, situated on the border with Kyrgyzstan. The city was the seat of the former Isfara District. There are currently territorial disputes between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan over the area ...

, and Kyrgyzstan later announced 24 people had died and 87 more were injured. Multiple ceasefires between increasingly higher ranking officials have been reached but have repeatedly been broken. Coincidentally, the leaders of both countries were attending the

2022 SCO summit The 2022 SCO summit was the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation#List of summits, annual summit of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation held between 15 and 16 September 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Proceedings As part of ...

of the

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian politics, political, economy, economic, international security and Defence (military), defence organization of ten member states. It was established in 2001 by the China, People's Republic ...

held in

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

, Uzbekistan, where they met and discussed the conflict. The Kyrgyz Parliament held an emergency meeting due to the situation. More than 136,000 people were evacuated from the conflict zone by Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan said that 15 of its civilians were killed in a Kyrgyz

Bayraktar TB2 Bayraktar TB2 (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Standard-bearer TB2'') is a Medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operati ...

drone strike on a mosque. Houses and civilian structures, including markets and schools, in the village of Ak-Sai in Kyrgyzstan were reported to have been intentionally burned and

looted Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

. Kyrgyzstan authorities said that 137,000 people had been evacuated to the Batken and

Osh Osh is a city in Kyrgyzstan. Osh or OSH may also refer to: * Osh (food), in Tajik and Uzbek cuisines * Osh (singer) (born 1995), English singer and rapper * OSH, the IATA code for Wittman Regional Airport near Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States ...

regions.

Analysis

The Diplomat A diplomat is someone who represents a government in its relations with other governments. It may also refer to: Diplomat, the Diplomat or the Diplomats may refer to: Media * ''The Diplomat'' (magazine), a Washington, D.C. online foreign affa ...

'' called the conflict an act of aggression by Tajikistan. It said that the attack could be related to speculation that Tajik President

Emomali Rahmon Emomali Rahmon ( ; born 5 October 1952), born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmanov, is a Tajik politician who has served as the President of Tajikistan since 1994, having previously led the country as Chairman of the Supreme Assembly (Tajikistan), Su ...

plans to hand over his position to his son

Rustam Emomali Rustam Emomali (, ; born 19 December 1987) is a Tajik politician who is the current Chairman of the National Assembly of Tajikistan, Mayor of Dushanbe and the eldest son of Emomali Rahmon, the long-standing president of Tajikistan. Rustam Emo ...

, who is currently the Chairman of the

National Assembly of Tajikistan The National Assembly (, ; ) is the upper chamber of Tajikistan's bicameral parliament. Rustam Emomali, who is the son of incumbent President Emomali Rahmon, is serving as the Chairman of the Majlisi Milli since April 17, 2020. Twenty-five membe ...

. It also theorized that President Rahmon might wish to pull the attention of domestic and international audiences away from protests in the

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area but only two percent of its popul ...

by the

Pamiris The Pamiris are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group, native to Central Asia, living primarily in Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan), Afghanistan ( Badakhshan), Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan & Chitral) and China (Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County). They spe ...

International reactions

Iranian

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

spokesman

Nasser Kanaani Nasser Kanaani () is an Iranian diplomat and the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran from 2022 to 2024. He was the head of Iran's interests protection office in Cairo from July 2018 to July 2022. Nasser Kanaani previously served ...

called for a resolution and offered Iran's assistance in mediation. Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

called the leaders of both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, urging them to reach a peace agreement. Russia has military bases in both countries. The Turkish

issued a statement hoping that the tension ends quickly without further escalation and that the disputes are settled peacefully through dialogue.

Mustafa Şentop Mustafa Şentop (born 6 August 1968) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician from the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice and Development Party (AKP) who is currently a Member of Parliament#Turkey, Member of Parliament and has been i ...

, the Speaker of Turkish Parliament, spoke on the phone with his Kyrgyz and Tajik counterparts, stating that "consultations between us as brothers are important in these days" and that "calm and common sense" are needed to solve the problems.

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

called for a "dialogue for a lasting ceasefire" between the combatants.

References