Shooting on Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Border: 27 Security Officers Detained

A special operation took place at two checkpoints in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region on the evening of July 5. Officers from the State Committee for National Security and the Alpha special forces unit detained 27 servicemen on suspicion of corruption, Orda.kz reports, citing 24.kg.

The operation was carried out simultaneously at the Kadamjay-Avtodorozhny and Chechme-Avtodorozhny checkpoints on the border with Uzbekistan. According to sources, special forces entered the checkpoints at around 19:00. They detained officers from the border service, customs and veterinary service.

The operation also involved gunfire. When special forces entered the Kadamjay checkpoint, an ensign stationed at the barrier fired four shots. Another serviceman fired a warning shot into the air. Authorities are now checking whether the use of weapons was lawful.

During searches, officers found 38,500 soms and more than 5.6 million Uzbek soums. Another 100,000 soms and an unspecified amount of dollars were seized from customs officers. The exact amount is still being established. In addition, two employees of the Chechme checkpoint were allegedly caught on CCTV receiving money.

In total, 11 servicemen from the Chechme checkpoint and 16 from the Kadamjay checkpoint were taken to the State Committee for National Security. Two AK-74 assault rifles, two magazines and 60 rounds of ammunition were seized.

Both checkpoints were suspended during the investigation. Around 3000 people and 400 cars gathered in queues. Later, traffic through the Kadamjay checkpoint was restored.

The State Committee for National Security had not commented on the special operation at the time of publication.

Original author: Ruslan Loginov

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