The number of Kyrgyz citizens killed in the conflict on the border with Tajikistan has increased from 24 to 36, the authorities of this country say.

In addition, 129 wounded were reported in the Batken region.

Tajik authorities have not yet published an official death toll, but social media users report several deaths and injuries in the Isfarin and Babajon-Gafurau districts of the Saghdi region.

Sources of Radio Azodi (the Tajik service of Radio Svaboda) report that as a result of the border conflict, at least 39 citizens of Tajikistan have died.

This is the largest outbreak of violence between the neighboring countries since the spring of 2021, when dozens of people were killed on both sides and at least 150 were injured.

The President of Kyrgyzstan

, Sadyr Zhaparov

, signed a decree declaring September 19 a day of national mourning in Kyrgyzstan.

"On the day of national mourning on the entire territory of the country, as well as on the buildings of diplomatic and consular institutions abroad, the state flags of the Kyrgyz Republic will be raised and cultural institutions and television and radio companies will be recommended to cancel entertainment events and broadcasts," the decree reads.

Almost half of the approximately 970 kilometers of the joint border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is still not officially demarcated, and conflicts and skirmishes periodically occur against this background.

On September 16, the permanent president of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon

and the head of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov

held talks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SHAC) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan .

The parties agreed to stop hostilities and to form a working group that would settle the conflict.

However, late in the evening of September 17, just a few hours after the ceasefire agreement came into force, the parties reported that several border villages had come under fire again.