Kazakhstan reportedly pulling armored vehicles to border with Kyrgyzstan

People had stuck on the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border for over a day due to massive traffic jam that emerged on October 10. Witnesses day Kazakhstan is pulling armored vehicles to the border.

A Facebook user Avlanbek Jumabayev posted a video footage of what is taking place on the border. “It seems that our neighbors are pulling massive forces to the border,” he writes. The user says the video was made on October 10 in the morning after people passed the checkpoint into Almaty. One can see military hardware on the roadside in the video.

“This video footage was shot by our citizens immediately after they crossed the border yesterday in the morning. Taxi drivers regularly driving Bishkek-Almaty route confirm the fact of our neighbors’ military buildup on the border. So, don’t drive that route unless you need it extremely,” Jumabayev comments.

Earlier today, the State Frontier Service of Kyrgyzstan reported that on October 10, starting from 8:00pm, it shifted to combat alert for the period of preparations and conduct of the presidential election in the country. Kyrgyzstan has not set any border control restrictions.

EADaily reported earlier that the relations of Astana and Bishkek have deteriorated dramatically during the past month. On September 20, Charge d’Affaires a.i. of Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan Zhanibek Karibjanov was summoned to the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry over the meeting of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Omurbek Babanov, one of the presidential candidates in Kyrgyzstan, leader of Republic-AtaZhurt Party faction. The foreign ministry handed over a note of protest to Kazakhstan over interference into domestic affairs of Kyrgyzstan.