PANJAKENT, Tajikistan -- Uzbek border guards have shot and wounded two Tajik citizens along Tajikistan's border in the northern Panjakent district, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
Abdurahmon Taylonov and Hofiz Normatov, both 37, are residents of the Panjakent district and reportedly tried to cross the Tajik-Uzbek border to visit relatives in the Urgut district of Uzbekistan's Samarkand region.
The parents of Taylonov and Normatov told RFE/RL that they are not being allowed to visit their sons, who were hospitalized in Urgut.
Several Tajiks told RFE/RL that since Jarteppa -- the only checkpoint in Panjakent, which borders the Samarkand region -- has been closed for 2 1/2 years and they must cross the Tajik-Uzbek border illegally.
Tajik border guards told RFE/RL that this was the fourth case of Uzbek border guards shooting Tajiks in Panjakent in 2009.
Abdurahmon Taylonov and Hofiz Normatov, both 37, are residents of the Panjakent district and reportedly tried to cross the Tajik-Uzbek border to visit relatives in the Urgut district of Uzbekistan's Samarkand region.
The parents of Taylonov and Normatov told RFE/RL that they are not being allowed to visit their sons, who were hospitalized in Urgut.
Several Tajiks told RFE/RL that since Jarteppa -- the only checkpoint in Panjakent, which borders the Samarkand region -- has been closed for 2 1/2 years and they must cross the Tajik-Uzbek border illegally.
Tajik border guards told RFE/RL that this was the fourth case of Uzbek border guards shooting Tajiks in Panjakent in 2009.