Tribal Patrols and Uzbek Guards Exchange Fire on Western Frontier

TALAS — Patrols of the El-Choro militias and Uzbek border guards exchanged fire over grazing trails and boreholes on Irad's western desert frontier in recent days, according to the Chancellery of the Iradi Freedom Society and herders who reached Talas yesterday. Accounts of the incidents are fragmentary, and none of the parties has published casualty figures.

The frontier sections held by the tribal regions have never been demarcated, and herders use trails and wells on both sides of the Soviet-era administrative line. The IAC Chancellery said its riders were protecting herders' access to wells their families had used for generations. Uzbek border officials have complained in recent months of armed patrols approaching the frontier. The charter airline Iradiya said it was waiting for Uzbek landing permits for its Tashkent flights.

The Department of Public Information said the incidents had taken place in an area outside the control of the ISEZ, which regards the El-Choro as an illegal armed formation, and called on "all armed groups" to respect the frontier. Officials of the UN mission said the external frontier lay outside their mandate but that they were in contact with clan elders and would help arrange talks with Uzbek border officers if asked.