Agreement on a cease-fire between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

Follow-up -INA

The Kyrgyz and Tajik foreign ministries agreed, today, Thursday, to establish a ceasefire regime, starting at 20:00 local time, to prevent the escalation of military tension on the borders between the two countries.
The Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, in a statement, that “As a result of several rounds of negotiations between the Foreign Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Ruslan Kazakbayev and Tajikistan Seraguddin Mehruddin, agreements were reached on a complete ceasefire as of 20:00 and the withdrawal of military forces to their previous locations. ".

These agreements include launching joint patrols of the Kyrgyz and Tajik forces in the border area and mechanisms to monitor the situation there, with "the continuation of direct contacts between the foreign ministries and the two ministers personally to quickly resolve outstanding issues."
The two sides stressed, according to the statement, the need to settle the situation through political and diplomatic means, calling for "not to be drawn into provocations by some harmful forces."

On Wednesday, clashes erupted between Kyrgyz and Tajik citizens at the disputed Golovnoy water distribution site in the upper reaches of the Esfara River, and later turned into confrontations between border guards of both parties.