OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Uzbek authorities have erected a border signpost on disputed territory near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek village of Chek, alarming residents caught up in a long-running dispute over which country possesses the territory, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
The governor of Uzbekistan's Pakhtaabad district, Uzbek Interior Ministry officials, and security service officers arrived in Chek after talks with locals and put up the border sign at the entrance to the village, leaving it in presumed Uzbek territory.
RFE/RL reported that no Kyrgyz officials were present at the time.
Many inhabitants of Chek are Kyrgyz nationals.
Locals told RFE/RL that they were surprised by the absence of any official Kyrgyz reaction to the measure.
Border issues between Central Asian countries remain a complicated problem that frequently leads to violence.