Tensions between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan threaten to escalate at disputed border

Tensions still simmer in the disputed border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Photo: DW

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have once again accused each other of secretly deploying armed forces along their disputed border, raising concerns that a new wave of instability could emerge, according to the Eurasianet.org news site on October 20.

In a statement on October 19, Tajikistan's security agency accused Kyrgyzstan of deploying military equipment and digging trenches along the border, as well as repeatedly violating Tajikistan's airspace with drones.

“[This] is a clear confirmation of the dangerous plans of the Kyrgyz side,” the Tajik National Security Committee (GKNB) said in a statement.

Tajikistan's border guards also accused Kyrgyzstan of deploying a large amount of military equipment close to the border, saying the Kyrgyz government was carrying out "premeditated actions aimed at escalating the situation in the border areas".

In response, Kyrgyzstan rejected Tajikistan’s claims, saying they were “completely inconsistent with the real situation.” Kyrgyzstan’s security service, also known as the GKNB, said Tajikistan’s Border Guards were “deliberately spreading false information aimed at inciting people in the border areas to commit illegal acts.”

According to GKNB, Tajikistan's armed forces have deployed fortifications, dug trenches across the entire border area, and carried out drone incursions: “Since September 25, there have been more than 10 cases of [Tajikistani] drones conducting reconnaissance operations and violating Kyrgyzstan's airspace.”

Meanwhile, the Kyrgyzstan Border Guard Service said in a statement that Tajik authorities were violating ceasefire agreements by deploying anti-personnel mines on disputed territories and digging trenches there.

In response to the new developments, Kyrgyzstan's Defense Minister Baktybek Bekbolotov said he had asked the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) to deploy a "small" number of troops in the disputed border areas with Tajikistan, noting that "there will be no peace until a mediator mediates between the two sides."

According to Kyrgyzstan’s representative, the CSTO troop deployment was necessary to ensure a ceasefire between the two former Soviet Central Asian states. But analysts and observers are questioning whether Moscow, embroiled in a conflict with Ukraine, has the military capacity and political motivation to resolve such troubles in its “backyard”.

Two days ago, Kyrgyzstan said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to provide Kyrgyzstan with archived Soviet-era maps to help resolve a border dispute with Tajikistan. Putin said there was more “true” information about the borders between the former Soviet republics in archives in Moscow than in the countries themselves.

On October 13, Mr. Putin, along with the presidents of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, discussed border issues between the two Central Asian countries in the capital Astana of Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the summit on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

At least 100 people were killed in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in September in fighting involving tanks, aircraft and artillery. The conflict involved a border that has been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, along with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, are CSTO members. Nearly half of the 970 km Kyrgyz-Tajik border remains undemarcated.