Batken conflict

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Batken conflict
DateJuly 30 – September 27, 1999
(1 month and 4 weeks)
Location
Batken Region, Kyrgyzstan
Result
  • Strategic Kyrgyz victory
  • The IMU is pushed back into Tajikistan
[inconsistent]
Belligerents
 Kyrgyzstan
 Russia (material support)
 Uzbekistan (military support)		 Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Commanders and leaders
Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev
Kyrgyzstan Myrzakan Subanov
Kyrgyzstan Esen Topoev
Kyrgyzstan Abdrakhman Mamataliev
Kyrgyzstan Abdygul Chotbaev
Kyrgyzstan Colonel Stanislav Kholodkov		 Juma Namangani
Tohir Yoʻldosh
Strength
several hundred soldiers more than 1,000 militants
Casualties and losses
32 civilians and soldiers 1,150 militants

The Batken conflict (

Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan, with support to the latter being provided by the Uzbek Ground Forces. It was caused by incursions of IMU militants into Uzbek and Kyrgyz territory from Tajikistan and was in part, centered on the unilateral demarcation of the Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan border by Uzbekistan.[1]

Background

Main article: 1999 Tashkent bombings

In February 1999, the Uzbek capital of

Uzbek government and President Karimov, after which the establishment of a fully Islamic state in Uzbekistan
would follow.

Events

In the summer of that year, IMU guerrilla rebels invaded the

Japanese government paid a ransom. The rebels demanded that Kyrgyzstan provide safe passage for them to cross into Uzbekistan. On the eighth day of the conflict, Mayor Abdrakhman Mamataliev of Osh along with 3 security officers were captured by militants in order to send a message to the Bishkek authorities. They were in captivity for over a week until they were released on 13 August as a result of extensive negotiations and the extortion of a ransom, which included an Afghanistan-bound helicopter.[2][3]

On 24 August, defense minister

Boris Silaev met to discuss Russia formally providing technical assistance to the Kyrgyz Army in eliminating the militants. The government spent the next month concentrating their operations on the IMU militants throughout the mountains, utilizing air strikes and artillery shelling to help aide their advance. By 25 September, the Batken region was completely stripped of militants, with some retreating to Tajikistan. The government then arrested over 70 civilians in Bishkek
who were suspected of having links with the IMU terrorists. The Kyrgyz and Uzbek governments agreed to confine the rebels in the mountains during the winter, in an attempt to ensure the disablement of the invading forces.

Aftermath

See also: Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan barrier

Following the conclusion of the conflict, the Uzbek government began the process of sealing its border with Kyrgyzstan, enacting measures such as constructing a barbed wire fence and creating a 2-meter (6.67-foot) fence throughout 1999 and 2000. The Uzbek government also hinted at a military intervention in the country, with defense minister

presidential elections.[6] The Batken Region was created as a response to IMU activities.[7] Kyrgyzstan accused Uzbekistan of using the conflict to seize large areas of agricultural land that was loaned to Uzbekistan during the Soviet period for temporary usage.[8]

The conflict also had a major impact on the international community, who collectively put pressure on Tajikistan to expel the IMU from the country, specifically the Tavildara Valley where it is based. The IMU eventually abandoned the valley in late 1999 after persuasion from the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).

See also

  • Post-Soviet conflicts

References

  1. ^ Абытов Байболот Капарович (2014-10-29). "Баткен 1999 год: события или война?". Мнение. АКИpress. Мнение. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  2. ^ Нурбек Омуралиев, Айнура Элебаева. "Баткенские события в Кыргызстане. Хроника событий". Central Asia & Central Caucasus Press AB. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  3. ^ "Batken Conflict Returns". iwpr.net.
  4. ^ "Kyrgyz Troops Kill 10 Gunmen in Hostage Crisis". Los Angeles Times. August 25, 1999.
  5. ^ "GROWING INTERNATIONAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE ISLAMIC INSURGENCY IN KYRGYZSTAN". Jamestown.
  6. ^ "Bad neighbors, bad fences". March 15, 2000. Archived from the original on September 25, 2000. Retrieved 2019-04-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "Баткенская область - Регионы - О Кыргызстане - Добро пожаловать в Кыргызстан!". www.welcome.kg.
  8. ^ Megoran (2004), op. cit., p 733-734.
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