Tajik-Kyrgyz Commission To Investigate Violence Near Vorukh Exclave

Tajik-Kyrgyz talks on resolving a border conflict resumed in Tajikistan's northern town of Kairakkum on July 11.

Tajik Deputy Prime Minister Murodali Alimardon and his Kyrgyz counterpart, Abdyrakhman Mamataliev, agreed on July 11 that a joint Tajik-Kyrgyz commission will investigate recent violence near Tajikistan’s Vorukh exclave.

Both sides blamed each other for starting an incident on July 10 in which one Tajik national was killed and seven others, including two border guards, were injured.

The Kyrgyz side later claimed that Tajik border guards fired mortars and a grenade launcher toward Kyrgyz territory after the incident.

Kyrgyz authorities say one Kyrgyz border guard was injured and hospitalized.

The two countries have been locked in a tense border dispute over the Vorukh exclave for months.