Kazakhstan arrests 25 over ethnic unrest

ALMATY, Kazakhstan: Authorities in Kazakhstan said 25 people were arrested on Friday during police raids connected to deadly ethnic violence that rocked the country in February.

Erlik Kenebayev, deputy chief state prosecutor, said those arrested in three parts of the Central Asian country "actively participated" in violence that left 11 dead, mostly members of the ethnic Dungan community.

They are a Chinese Muslim people that fled to Central Asia in the 19th century. Kenebayev said those detained on Friday included ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Dungans. "Seven had previous convictions," he added.

In February, hundreds of Kazakh assailants descended on the Dungan village of Masanchi, setting fire to homes and shops and killing livestock. Clashes in the southern Jambyl region are believed to have begun after an elderly man of Kazakh ethnicity was injured during a street brawl between Kazakhs and Dungans.

It was the worst such violence in nearly three decades since Kazakhstan became independent. Authoritarian leaders of the oil-rich former Soviet republic pride themselves on preserving ethnic harmony.