Fire exchanged, tanks mobilized as clashes break out at Tajik-Kyrgyz border

Military equipment, including tanks and combat vehicles, is being amassed at the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where a shootout between the security forces of the two countries began earlier.

According to local news outlets, the Kyrgyz military attacked the Tajik border guards, trying to illegally seize the Golovnoi water intake facility. Kyrgyzstan claims the Tajik security forces shot first, after which the Kyrgyz military had to return fire.

Both countries have made claims to ownership of the Golovnoi water intake facility – used to distribute irrigation water – which has caused tensions between the two countries to run high.