Locals in Kyrgyz villages in the border area with Tajikistan are evacuating after a shooting between border forces of the two Central Asian countries started on Thursday, eyewitnesses said.

“There is an evacuation from the Samarkandyk region to the village of Ravat. Only women and children are being evacuated. The men remain,” the eyewitness said.

CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas has called for an immediate ceasefire on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov said.

Zas held phone conversations with the secretary of the Tajik Security Council, Nasrullo Mahmudzoda, and the secretary of the Kyrgyz Security Council, Marat Imankulov, “during which the CSTO Secretary General called for an immediate ceasefire between the parties on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,” the spokesman said.

“The renewed clashes on the border, which resulted in injuries, cause serious concern. The armed confrontation on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border must be immediately stopped. The conflict must be resolved exclusively at the negotiating table by peaceful means. For this, the CSTO is ready to provide Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with the necessary assistance in resolving conflict. I am sure that the leadership of both CSTO member states will find mutually acceptable ways to resolve this complex border issue,” Zas said.