Anton Ponomarev: Kirgizia and Uzbekistan started a “mine war”

Tension in the relationships of Kirgizia and Uzbekistan intensifies. The reason is mining of the Uzbek-Kirgizian border. Uzbekistan started to practice it straight after the Kirgiz militants had happened to penetrate into the territory of Uzbekistan this autumn. Kirgizia, to put it mildly, doesn’t approve these measures. The minefields along the border are not convenient to Kirgizes because there is no any marked border between the states. People can just pass the border without seeing it, come to the territory of Uzbekistan and die through ignorance. Fortunately, no one died yet. But four Kirgiz cows have already been blown up. The damage of 10 thousand US dollars was caused to borderers. But Uzbekistan still ignores all the statement of Kirgizia, which becomes more and more harsh. Meanwhile, analysts suppose that the main reason of the “mine war” between Kirgizia and Uzbekistan is ceaseless quarrel of the states about its territories. There are some boundary areas considered by both states as their property. Kirgizes think that, mining the border, Uzbekistan appropriates Kirgiz territories.