Saudi Arabia briefed about the aggression of Kyrgyz Republic in Tajikistan
Source: "Riyadh Daily", Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has been briefed about the aggression of Kyrgyz Republic in Tajikistan, which resulted in the death and injury of many people including children, said Tajikistan Ambassador Akram M. Karimi, here today. Karimi reaffirmed in a statement on Thursday Tajikistan’s total rejection of all acts of aggression of Kyrgyz Republic, targeting innocent people and property across the border.
Karimi said that he had a meeting with Waleed Al-Khuraiji, Saudi deputy minister of foreign affairs recently, in which he briefed the minister “about the current situation of the Tajik-Kyrgyz clashes, which broke out on September 14 following abrupt shelling by the military units of the Border Troops of the State Committee for Kyrgyz National Security without any reason.” He pointed out that the Saudi side has been fully briefed about the aggression of Bishkek without any rhyme and reason.
Karimi, who released a comprehensive statement of Tajikistan Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin about the aggression, said that “Tajikistan regards Saudi Arabia as its most important partner at the international and regional levels, and is keen to strengthen cooperation with it at all levels and areas of common interest.” Tajikistan has recently introduced entry visa exemption for citizens of Saudi Arabia by its resolution issued on October 26, 2021 AD, which became effective on January 1, 2022, he added.
The envoy also extended his greetings and good wishes to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and all people of the Kingdom on the occasion of the Saudi national day.
Referring to the statement of the Tajkistan foreign ministry about the conflict, he said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan notes with extreme concern the cases of harassment, intimidation, discrimination and persecution of Tajik citizens and ethnic Tajiks residing in Kyrgyzstan in recent days. On September 14, 2022, the local authorities of the Kadamzhai district of the Batken province of Kyrgyzstan closed commercial outlets/shops of ethnic Tajiks living in the area. The citizens of Kyrgyzstan evacuated from the border areas were purposefully placed in the houses of ethnic Tajiks in the Kadamzhai district.
The statement said that the military units of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic, without any reason, began shelling the Kekh border post of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Vorukh Jamoat of Isfara Town, Tajikistan on September 14, at 7:15am. During this unprovoked act of aggression, the Kyrgyz side used mortars, machine guns, and other small arms.
“As a result of the shelling, two servicemen of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan were killed. At the same time, the Kyrgyz side transferred additional forces and heavy equipment to the border areas, which prompted the Tajik side to return fire,” said the statement. On the same day, approximately at 2:10 pm, immediately after the announcement of the ceasefire, Kyrgyz military personnel using group weapons attacked the settlements of Langar and Sari Bozor, as well as the building of secondary school No. 47 of Chorkuh Jamoat, as a result of which students and teachers of this educational institution were wounded, said the statement.
“Despite the agreement on the de-escalation of the situation and the withdrawal of additional forces, on September 16, Kyrgyz military personnel began shelling the ‘Dushanbe’ frontier post using heavy weapons,” said the statement. At the same time, military personnel of Kyrgyzstan carried out an armed attack on the settlements of Khojai Alo, Kummazor, Surkh, Somoniyon, and Kulkand of the city of Isfara, as well as Khistevarz and Ovchikal'acha of Bobojon Gafurov district.
The statement further said: “Despite the ceasefire agreement that was reached at various levels of the military and civilian authorities of the two countries, as well as contrary to the assurances of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, given by him during a meeting with the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon in Samarkand "on the sidelines" of the SCO Summit, on September 16, the Kyrgyz military opened fire and destroyed the buildings of secondary schools No. 225 and No. 64 of the Jamoat Chorkuh of the city of Isfara.”
In the evening of the same day, in violation of the norms of international humanitarian law, Kyrgyz military personnel fired from armored vehicles at an ambulance transporting wounded civilians in the village of Chorkishlok, Zumrad Village Council, Isfara City, Tajikistan. As a result of this inhuman attack, five citizens of Tajikistan - an ambulance paramedic and members of one family, including six and 5-year-old children were killed, according to the statement.
“On September 16, the co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission at a meeting reached an agreement on a ceasefire from 4:00 pm, mentioned in Protocol No. 41. Despite this, the Kyrgyz side used combat helicopters and attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) Bayraktar TB2 to bombard the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan”, it explained.
Thus, as a result of a UAV strike on the building of school No. 8 of the Ovchi Kal'acha Village Council in Bobojon Gafurov district, 6 civilians of Tajikistan died. During an UAV strike on a mosque in the Ovchi Kal'ach Village Council, 12 civilians of Tajikistan were killed and more than 20 people, including a seven-year-old child were wounded. In the early morning of September 17, the Kyrgyz military personnel once again violated the ceasefire regime and carried out mortar shelling of the Chorkuh Village Council and a section of the Chorkishlok road of the Chorkuh Village Council in the city of Isfara.
On the same day, the Kyrgyz servicemen using multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), shelled the village of Tojvaron, Lakhsh district of Tajikistan, said the statement. “As a result of this attack, several civilians were injured, including women and children, and three residential buildings were destroyed,” it added. It should be emphasized that no conflict cases were recorded in this area and the concentration of forces and means of the Kyrgyz side in this area, taking into account the complexity of the terrain, would take more than one week, according to the statement.
During the day, Kyrgyz military personnel fired three times at settlements in the border zone of the Lakhsh region using MLRS. They attacked the School No. 15 in the village of Tojvaron, as a result of which 3 school students were injured, it added.
In recent days, with a view to creating the image of an “aggressor” in the face of its neighbor, the Kyrgyz side, not shunning outright lies and insinuations, continues an information campaign against Tajikistan, thereby escalating tension in the border area, said the statement. “On September 17, in his address to the nation, the President of Kyrgyzstan used the word “enemy” in relation to Tajikistan,” said the statement, which gave a detailed account of the unprovoked aggression of the Kyrgyz Republic.
