Guards clash again on Kyrgyz-Tajik border, no casualties reported

FILE PHOTO: A Kyrgyz border guard smokes outside a temporary camp near a frontier border post in the village of Maksat in Batken province, Kyrgyzstan May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Vladimir Pirogov/File Photo

BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz and Tajik border guards exchanged fire on Thursday amid a standoff over a blocked road, a fresh outbreak of violence between the ex-Soviet neighbours after a similar frontier clash killed dozens last year.

The border between the two countries, both of which host Russian military bases and are closely allied with Moscow, is poorly demarcated.