The Kyrgyz border guard has opened a new outpost on the border with Tajikistan, where approximately 500 military personnel will serve. Kyrgyz authorities have explained this due to the possible penetration of “terrorist groups” from their neighbouring state.
In addition to terrorists, the commander of the border troops, SCNS (State Committee of National Security) rep Zakir Thielen, mentioned the passage of arms, ammunition and drugs as alternative reasons for strengthening the Kyrgyz/Tajik frontier.
The name of the new outpost is Karashybak. At the opening ceremony of the outpost on May 18, Thielen drew a parallel between this event and clashes with military rebels in Tajikistan last year.
“All of these developments [in the Tajik conflict at Rasht] took place near the Kyrgyz Republic, only 150 kilometers away. With the right transport, training teams, it takes only a few days to get here, ” the commander worried.
Karashybak is located in the Chon-Alai region of Osh oblast in southern Kyrgyzstan, near the border with Tajikistan.
Authorities did not disclose information about how many guards are guarding the Kyrgyz-Tajik border segment.
But the governor of Osh region, Sooronbaev Jeenbekov referred to the increase of troops as “massive” and said that this is “the first time in the history of Kyrgyzstan.”
Comparison with Batken events
Security experts generally welcome the initiative of the authorities.
Retired SCNS chief Tazhimurza Batyrbekov compares the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border today with that in 1999 and 2000, when two years in a row fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan infiltrated Kyrgyzstan, on their way to Uzbekistan, to overthrow President Islam Karimov.
Then, according to Batyrbekov, Kyrgyz authorities took no measures to protect the border.
“The result – many people were lost. Therefore, anticipatory preventive measures are always needed. Anyway, the very presence of the troops – it is good,” says the former KGB man.
Border Problems
Human rights defenders, in turn, noted that around the Border, there are problems with the participation of the military in smuggling.
A “significant quantity of contraband passes through the southern border and border guards and customs are involved,” says human rights activist Gulnara Dzhurabaeva.
According to her, border guards must attend to “closing the holes in their system.”
“While they do not stop attending to their personal interests such “parsley” will occur,” concluded Dzhurabaeva.
The head of human rights organization Coalition For Democracy and Civil Society, Dinara Oshurahunova, is confident that the new outpost will help stabilize the situation on the borders.
“At the border there is a big problem – when our border guards get beaten up there are not enough forces to help,” she said.
According to Dzhurabaeva, the state must first take care of the citizens of Kyrgyzstan.
“The citizens of Kyrgyzstan, in the territory of Kyrgyzstan do not feel safe,” she says.
Editor: Alexander Kim
Author: Regina Im