Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have announced that they have reached an agreement on where the border between the countries should be, and thus resolve what AFP describes as the last ongoing border conflict in Central Asia.
The leaders of the respective countries' security services have met in the Kyrgyz border town of Batken. In pictures sent out afterwards, men in different military uniforms are seen shaking hands with each other.
"The meeting took place in mutual understanding in a friendly atmosphere," the Kyrgyz government announced.
The border issue has led to regular and deadly violence in the area. In September 2022, an escalation occurred with tanks and artillery, resulting in the deaths of tens or hundreds of people.
The approximately 130-mile-long border winds its way through a vast mountainous area, as well as through the Fergana Valley, where the inhabitants belong to different ethnic groups and clans. In Kyrgyzstan, there has also formally been a Tajik exclave.
The border further north, between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, has been drawn around numerous small enclaves or exclaves on either side of the border.
