Border guards from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan start their battle

• There is a dispute over the boundary between the two Central Asian countries.
• Border guards from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan exchanged gunfire.
• The conflict broke out on Wednesday.

After a dispute over the boundary between the two Central Asian countries, border guards from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan exchanged gunfire, according to officials on both sides.

The conflict on Wednesday broke out after Kyrgyz border guards accused the Tajiks of setting up camp at a section of the border that hasn’t been marked, which occurred on the eve of a meeting of a regional security body and against the backdrop of fighting between Russia and Ukraine as well as Azerbaijan and Armenia.

According to a statement from the Tajik side, uninvited gun and mortar fire from Kyrgyz border guards on their station resulted in the death of one border guard and two injuries, according to RIA Novosti.

No injuries were immediately reported by Kyrgyzstan. Over a third of the 1,000 km (600 mile) border between the two nations is still up for debate.

Both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are allies of Russia and host Russian military installations, but border disputes between the two former Soviet republics frequently result in violence, which nearly sparked a full-scale conflict last year.

RIA Novosti, citing a source in the foreign ministry, said on Wednesday that Russia has urged its Central Asian allies to act quickly to restore order to the situation on the two nations’ border.

Tajik border guard was slain in a similar conflict in June. Serious escalations are uncommon, but last year’s worst clash between the two in more than 30 years of post-Soviet independence raised concerns about a wider conflict.

This week, the leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are anticipated to join the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan.

15 leaders from all eight SCO member states, including China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as three observer states, are attending the summit, which is taking place entirely in person for the first time in three years.

China views the organisation, which was established under Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, as a counterbalance to American-led alliances in East Asia. Beijing has participated in multi-government military drills to demonstrate its rapidly advancing capabilities.

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