DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - A Tajik border guard shot and killed an Uzbek guard in the latest in a series of violent incidents amid tense relations between the Central Asian neighbors, officials said Friday.
The Uzbek border guard was on duty at the frontier in the southern Surkhandarya region when he was killed by a shot fired from the Tajik side, the Uzbek border protection agency said.
A Tajik official confirmed that a Tajik guard had shot an Uzbek guard but said the shooting was provoked by seven Uzbek soldiers he said crossed into Tajikistan, ignoring commands to halt and warning shots.
"One of our guards felt his life was threatened, and shot an Uzbek soldier, acting according to the service regulations," Tajik border protection agency spokesman Khushnud Rakhmatullayev told The Associated Press.
The two nations' ties soured during Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war, with the Uzbek government closing its borders to prevent violence from spilling over. Uzbekistan also mined sections of the 670 mile border and has refused to demarcate the minefields.
It has also balked at reopening the border, fearing an influx of drugs trafficked into Tajikistan from neighboring Afghanistan.
More than 10 shootings have occurred at the border this year, according to Uzbek security officials.
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