Kyrgyz Border Guard Held In Tajikistan After Shooting

7 June 2005 -- Authorities in northern Tajikistan are holding a Kyrgyz border guard after a fatal shooting along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border on the evening of 6 June.

The border guard allegedly shot a Tajik citizen who had crossed the border near the Tajik village of Chorku to gather firewood.

Kyrgyz border guards have been on heightened alert since violence broke out last month in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon, in Uzbekistan's section of the Ferghana Valley. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan share the Ferghana Valley.

Residents of the Tajik village of Chorku said it was normal for Kyrgyz border guards to allow them cross the border in search of firewood, but said security had been increased since the violence in Uzbekistan.

(AKIpress)