DUSHANBE, January 27, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Kyrgyzstan has suspended the construction of the Koktash-Aksai-Tamdyk road, resident of the Tajik village of Khoja Alo, Farhod Safarov told Asia-Plus on phone Sunday evening.

According to him, the main road building machines were withdrawn from the construction site yesterday.  “According to Kyrgyz builders, the remaining two excavators will be withdrawn from the site today morning,” Safarov said.

An official source at the administration of the Tajik northern city of Isfara has confirmed this information.

Many areas along the borders in Central Asia remain in dispute after collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the segment of border between the Isfara (Tajikistan) and Batken (Kyrgyzstan) districts is one of the most conflict-prone parts in the Ferghana Valley.  Conflicts over land ownership, delineation of the border, and water resources have caused tension between villagers on both sides of the border.

Five Kyrgyz border guards, one Kyrgyz policeman, and two Tajik border guards were hospitalized with injuries on January 11 after tensions escalated into exchanges of gunfire along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.

The clash started when Tajiks protested Kyrgyzstan’s construction of a bypass road through disputed territory.  Kyrgyzstan has reportedly insisted it will continue building the road.  Tajikistan has requested to halt the project until the border is delimited.