Dozens of houses were destroyed in Arka-2 village, Zhany-Zher rural area of Leilek district (Kyrgyzstan) as a result of an attack by the Tajik military. Shells and cartridges are lying on the roads.

24.kg news agency journalist visited one of the villages in Leilek district that were the first to be affected.

Local residents said they hurriedly left the houses, which were later robbed and burned. Some of the villagers are returning to the settlement, but most of the women and children are still afraid to return to their homes. Many were left without a roof over their heads. Mostly men came to calculate the damage.

Owner of a store in Arka-2, Gulayim Dobutova, is one of the few women who dared to return to the village affected by the shelling. She said that people were afraid for their lives.

«We ask the deputies of the Parliament and the President to finally resolve the border issues. We are tired of living in danger. Our houses, shops... everything is burned down. We do not know what the future our children will have, and we worry about it. Strangers are already walking around here today. if I hadn’t returned, they would have started looting,» she said.

According to the woman, local entrepreneurs had a hard time after the April events in 2021. Many took loans to restore burned cafes and shops. It will probably be the same.

«We barely took compensation last year. People just started paying off their debts. And it happened again. Life became hard, we lost sleep. We even keep a bag at hand always ready to flee,» Gulaiym Dobutova told.

The house of Arka-2 resident Sulaimankul Zholdubaev was robbed. Tajik citizens stole a refrigerator, TV and valuables.

«Houses have been robbed. Living here is already dangerous, even though I was born here,» he says.

During the attack on Kyrgyz villages, Talant Koshaliev was driving to work. Hearing about what was happening, he turned back and took his family to Margun village. He returned to the village today and found his house burned to the ground.

«Yesterday I found out that my house had been burned down. Today I came here to look at what is left. No one was allowed here until today, only the military were here. The shooting started around 8 a.m. I don’t know what they fired from — from tanks or mortars. The family had to be taken to Margun village. I started building this house in 2010. I was building it gradually, worked in Moscow. I have been living here with my family for about five years. I can’t even say now what damage has been done,» the man says.

Emergency situation has been introduced in Batken region. Shooting began at several sites of the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the morning of September 16. Settlements in Leilek and Batken district came under fire. The Ministry of Health reported 163 victims, 59 people were killed. As a result of the armed conflict on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, residents of seven villages in Batken and Leilek districts, as well as Dzhekendi village in Chon-Alai district of Osh region, left their homes.

By the decree of the President Sadyr Japarov, September 19, 2022 was declared a Day of National Mourning in the Kyrgyz Republic.