Tajik killed in clashes at border with Kyrgyzstan

One Tajik was killed and 11 injured in clashes with Kyrgyz citizens over a road project at the disputed border between the Central Asian countries, Tajikistan said Thursday.

A group of Tajiks were on Wednesday protesting Kyrgyzstan's plans for the project when "the Kyrgyz opened fire" and started throwing stones, Tajikistan's border service said.

Thirty people from Tajikistan were taken hostage, the service said in a statement. Kyrgyzstan's border service did not confirm the death of the Tajik citizen or the hostages claim.

It said "about 50 Kyrgyz citizens and 70 Tajik citizens" had thrown stones at each other Wednesday but did not say whether shots were fired.

Flare-ups are common at the border, where large areas are not demarcated and competition for scarce land and water pits ethnic groups against each other.

Tajikistan said Kyrgyzstan is building a road in the disputed region "in violation of the bilateral intergovernmental protocol".

Both Muslim-majority Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were part of the Soviet Union, and border disputes worsened when the USSR fell apart in 1991.

Kyrgyzstan said it was in talks with its neighbour about reopening two roads in the area that closed following the violence.