by Meerim Egemberdieva
The border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan started on the 28th of April 2021 when a group of Tajik citizens installed a water surveillance camera in the border area. The Kyrgyz side claims that the Tajiks illegally entered Kyrgyz territory. The Tajik side claims that the group stayed on Tajik territory. Following this dispute, villagers from both sides of the border started throwing stones at each other. Later, these border quarrels escalated to a clash involving heavy artillery, mortar, and gunfire. Both sides blamed each other for starting the armed conflict. As a result of the clash, at least 40 Kyrgyz citizens and 20 Tajik citizens died. More than 200 people were injured and over 50.000 Kyrgyz people were internally displaced.