TASHKENT. March 18 (Interfax) - A group of Afghan citizens illegally entered Uzbek territory, attacked a unit of Uzbek border guards and tried to seize their weapons; three of these Afghans died in a clash, the Uzbek National Security Service's Border Committee reported on Saturday.
"An Uzbek border unit spotted over 30 Afghan citizens on the Aral-Paygambar Island belonging to the Republic of Uzbekistan while performing their services duties on Thursday, March 14. They ignored the unit's legitimate demands that they leave the country's territory, after which about 10 illegal border crossers attacked the border unit and attempted to seize weapons," it said.
"To ensure its own security, the border unit had to use weapons against the attackers after firing numerous warning shots to the air. Four citizens of Afghanistan sustained gunshot wounds in a clash, and three of them later died. The other illegal border crossers retreated to in their territory. Urgent medical aid was rendered to the wounded citizen of the neighboring country," it said.
It was decided the same day to hand over those detained and release the bodies of those killed to Afghan authorities.
"However, official representatives of the Afghan border guard service refused to accept their citizens," it said.