Situation on Kyrgyz-Tajik border relatively stable - Kyrgyz Border Service

BISHKEK. April 14 (Interfax) - The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border is relatively stable, the Border Service of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security said on Thursday.

"As of 8:30 a.m., the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border can be assessed as relatively stable," the Border Service said.

According to its press service, the delegations of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed at a meeting on Wednesday to set up a working group made up of the sides' border service representatives in charge of the areas from where the additional forces sent to the border were withdrawn.

Meanwhile, the local authorities together with law enforcement agencies will have to conduct awareness-raising work among the population of the border districts regarding the need to abide by earlier reached agreements regulating the joint use of land and water resources.

The Kyrgyz Border Service on Tuesday reported two Kyrgyz-Tajik border shootouts in the Selkan area of the Leylek district of Kyrgyzstan's Batken region. In addition, a mortar attack on a Kyrgyz village was reported. Later on, the Kyrgyz Border Service said that the sides agreed to withdraw reinforcements from the incident scene to their bases.

Following the shootout on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, six injured persons sought medical assistance, and two of them were assigned to outpatient clinics after receiving first aid, the Kyrgyz Health Ministry said.