Wounded Kyrgyz Border Guard Remains In Uzbekistan

BISHKEK -- A Kyrgyz border guard shot by Uzbek border guards on January 17 is still being kept in Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Cholponbek Turusbekov, the deputy chairman of the Kyrgyz Border Guard Service, told RFE/RL that the man was wounded in a shootout between Kyrgyz and Uzbek border guards on January 17 and taken away by Uzbek guards.

He was reported on January 18 to be in satisfactory condition in an Uzbek hospital. Kyrgyz officials said they are working to secure the guard's release.

The incident took place along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border near the village of Chek in Kyrgyzstan's south.