BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have completed withdrawal of their military units from the border following deadly clashes last week, the Kyrgyz Border Service said on May 3.

The national-security chiefs of the two Central Asian neighbors agreed to the pullback in a crisis meeting on May 1.

The Kyrgyz Border Service said that after the withdrawal of the military units the situation in the area is calm and stable.

“The sides have completed the withdrawal of additional military units and equipment from the border…. The joint military commission consisting of officers from the defense structures of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan continue inspecting the areas left by the additional military forces and equipment,” the Kyrgyz Border Guarding Service’s statement said.

On May 2, the head of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security, Saimumin Yatimov, said when visiting the country’s Vorukh exclave within Kyrgyzstan that Tajik military forces had been withdrawn from the border.

Kyrgyzstan says that during the April 28-29 clashes, 34 Kyrgyz citizens were killed, 178 were injured, and 50,000 people fled the area.

According to Bishkek, 78 private homes, two schools, one medical point, two border checkpoints, a kindergarten, 10 gasoline stations, a police building, and eight shops were destroyed in Kyrgyzstan’s southwestern region of Batken.

Tajik authorities have yet to give an official casualty toll.

Correspondents of RFE/RL’s Tajik Service in the area reported that at least 16 Tajik nationals were killed and at least 90 were injured.

The violence followed a dispute over the installation of surveillance cameras at a water distribution point near the Vorukh exclave, drawing in security forces from both countries.

Kyrgyz security officials at one point accused Tajik forces of using MI-24 helicopter gunships to shoot at Kyrgyz villages.

The meeting of the Tajik and Kyrgyz delegations followed a telephone conversation between Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon.

The European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and Russia have all urged both sides to respect the cease-fire agreement.

Both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan host Russian military bases.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged an immediate investigation to hold either side responsible for laws-of-war violations against civilians.

Like many other border areas in Central Asia, almost half of the 970-kilometer long Kyrgyz-Tajik border has not been demarcated, leading to tensions for the past 30 years.