DUSHANBE. Feb 16 (Interfax) - A Tajik citizen has died after hitting an antipersonnel mine while trying to get into the neighboring Uzbekistan, the Tajik Interior Ministry press service has reported.
"A 27-year old Tajik man tried to get into Uzbekistan in the Bobodzhon Gafurov district of the Sogdiysk region," the press service has reported.
The incident occurred 340 km north of Dushanbe.
The passport found on the man did not have a visa for Uzbekistan. According to information possessed by the Interior Ministry, the man has no criminal record.
"The man most likely decided to visit his relatives or friends in Uzbekistan without formalities," the Tajik Interior Ministry has reported.
The Tajik-Uzbek border is 1,283 km long.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have difficult relations. Air communication between the two countries stopped in 1992 soon after the two republics gained independence. In 2001, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan introduced a visa regime. The Tajik-Kyrgyz border was mined on the Uzbek side at that time. Dozens of citizens living in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been killed in the area, which is not marked in any way.
Residents of Tajikistan can only get to Uzbekistan through third countries or by motor transport through checkpoints on the borders.