Casualties have been reported following an exchange of fire on Thursday amid a standoff over a blocked road between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The Batken provincial government in Kyrgyzstan said four Kyrgyz servicemen were wounded. Tajikistan said there are casualties among its civilians and border guards. The fighting broke out as border guards on both sides managed to get a road between the two countries unblocked. The Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) has been mediating between its two members. A similar violent incident last year killed 49 people.