UN Secretary General Calls Upon Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Engage in Dialogue to Settle Border Dispute

New York, September 18 (QNA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to engage in dialogue in order to establish a sustainable ceasefire between the two countries.
In a statement, Guterres expressed his deep concern about the escalation of violence along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries.
He affirmed the readiness of the United Nations to find a permanent solution to the border disputes between the two countries, stressing that both sides should make full use of existing mechanisms on the ground to defuse tensions.
Yesterday, the ceasefire agreed between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan came into effect, following the outbreak of armed confrontations between the armies of both countries on Friday, which resulted in dozens of deaths on both sides.
Cross-border clashes between the two former republics of the Soviet Union are frequent, but they usually subside quickly, while the roots of these differences are due to the dissatisfaction of the local population with the division of border areas during the Soviet period. (QNA)