Two border guards were killed in Tajikistan and 16 others wounded in a shootout on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where tensions between the two Central Asian countries persist.

“Two border guards were killed and six were injured,” in addition to “six civilians who received shrapnel wounds,” RIA Novosti quoted the administration of the border town of Isfra in Tajikistan as saying.

On the other hand, Kyrgyzstan announced that 4 people were injured: two border guards and two civilians, one of whom was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Bishkek confirmed that Tajiks opened fire on Kyrgyz border guards in the towns of Bulak-Bashi and Baski-Arik in the Batken border region in southeastern Kyrgyzstan.

The Kyrgyz border guards said in a statement that “bearded men dressed in black were seen shooting indiscriminately and unnecessarily at civilians, objects, houses and other property.”

For their part, the Tajik authorities, through the national news agency Khovar, accused Kyrgyz forces of firing mortars and machine guns at a Tajik border post.

The parties announced that negotiations are underway between representatives of the border guards of the two countries to stop the skirmishes.

For its part, Russia called on Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan “to take all necessary measures to return to the political and diplomatic arena and jointly eliminate any kind of provocation.”

About half of the 970-kilometer border between the two former Soviet republics in Central Asia is disputed, and progress in demarcating the border has been slow in recent years. And frequent shootings. 2021 saw an unprecedented number of clashes between the two sides, resulting in more than 50 deaths and fears of an expansion of the conflict.