Tajikistan said on Sunday that 35 of its citizens were killed in the latest border clashes with Kyrgyzstan, raising the overall death toll to at least 81.
On its Facebook page, the Tajik foreign ministry reported 35 people dead including civilians, women, and children. Meanwhile the death on the Kyrgyz side rose to 46, making it the worst flare up between the two Central Asian countries in years.
The former Soviet republics clashed over a border dispute on Sept. 14-16, accusing each other of using tanks, mortars, rocket artillery and assault drones to attack outposts and nearby settlements.
Central Asian border issues largely stem from the Soviet era when Moscow tried to divide the region between groups whose settlements were often located amidst those of other ethnicities.
Kyrgyzstan on Sunday reported 46 deaths from the earlier fighting and has also said it evacuated about 137,000 people from the conflict area. The government declared Sept. 19 a day of mourning for the victims.
yrgyz media, which described the conflict as an invasion, reported on Sunday some of the evacuees have already started returning to their homes.
Tajikistan’s foreign ministry said Kyrgyzstan continued a media campaign against it and noted that Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov used the term “enemy” to refer to Tajikistan in his Saturday address.
The two sides agreed a ceasefire on Sept. 16 which has largely held up despite several alleged incidents of shelling. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone to Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Sunday, the Kremlin said.
Putin urged the sides to prevent further escalation and to take measures to resolve the situation “exclusively by peaceful, political and diplomatic means as soon as possible”, offering assistance, his office said in a statement.