ReliefWeb

Description of the event

What happened, where and when?

According to several news agencies and based on Batken branch field reports, on September 14, at 7:00 am, in the Bulak-Bashi area of the Batken region, a border clash that happened between troops of Kyrgyzstan and of Tajikistan, that escalated into an International Armed Conflict, each accusing one another of using tanks, mortars, rocket artillery and assault drones to attack outpost.

As of 28 September 2022, 59 people were killed and 198 injured from Kyrgyz side, out of whom 172 are still in hospitals (68 in Batken hospitals and 104 in Bishkek and Osh city hospitals), while more than 30 people were killed from Tajik side. The number of evacuated people grew rapidly within two days. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MoES) 136,770 people from the conflict areas were evacuated to other parts of Batken and Osh regions. Many local residents were evacuated in a chaotic manner and independently were using their own vehicles. The majority of the people have been hosted by private households in safe locations while some are residing in temporary shelters such as schools, government facilities and mosques etc. Families are dispersed among host families, with movement of people challenging to track. It is unclear whether humanitarian aid will reach these households. All residents of Maksat, Dostuk villages that border with Tajikistan have reportedly fled their houses and are trying to relocate to Bishkek. A part of displaced people in host families and temporary settlements is hard to define for now, as there is a tendency that people try to move closest to the affected areas of Batken in the hope to quickly return to their households when situation is stabilized since many have cattle and poultry to feed.

The border conflict continued for two days, where Kyrgyz and Tajik forces engaged in more than 12 places all along the border, after which the two sides agreed to a ceasefire on 16 September, which has been largely held up despite several alleged incidents of shelling with a severe escalation on 16 and 17 September. The situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik state border continues to be tense. As the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MoES) informed by 26 September 92,521 citizens out of 136,770 evacuated or displaced people have returned to their houses, while the other part is unwilling to return as they are concerned of their security and are planning to settle in other regions of the country as the challenge of border demarcation and delimitation between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is ongoing. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan share 984 km of border, 30% of which is still disputed and leads to tensions due to lack of access to water, roads and pastures and nearby settlements.

State of emergency was declared on 16 September 2022 in Batken, which is still in place as of 22 September 2022.
On 20 September President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Japarov travelled to New York and delivered a speech at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, where he made an emphasis on the border conflict and urged Tajikistan to settle the conflict.

On September 25, Protocol #42 on the settlement of the situation on the border was signed by the head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan Kamchybek Tashiev and his Tajik counterpart Saimumin Yatimov. The main point of the document is the removal and conservation of eight border posts and outposts - four each from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. According to the heads of the SCNS of two countries, the removal and conservation of border posts and outposts will relieve tension on the border, since it was in these areas that localized conflicts escalated into an armed clash of the parties. However, in Kyrgyzstan, this decision caused public discontent.

Residents of the Batken attended public manifestation demanding to cancel the agreement and restore border posts and outposts, voicing the concern that Protocol # 42 was drawn up in the interests of Tajikistan and in the long term opens the way for the expansion of the Vorukh enclave through a creeping seizure of the territory of Kyrgyzstan.