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| - Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Sunday blamed "two criminal groups" fighting over contraband for inter-ethnic clashes that left at least eleven dead in the south of the country last month. During a visit to the Jambyl region that witnessed deadly violence between minority Dungans and ethnic Kazakhs in February, Tokayev said the clashes were caused by one group trying to take over another group's cross-border smuggling business. "In a word, because of control over sources of illegal income, a conflict arose between the two criminal groups," the presidential press-service quoted him as saying. The violence was unprecedented in Kazakhstan -- an authoritarian Central Asian country whose regime portrays itself as guaranteeing inter-ethnic harmony. The February 7 rampage, saw hundreds of ethnic Kazakh assailants descend on the mostly Dungan village of Masanchi, setting fire to homes, shops and livestock. Thousands of Dungans were forced to seek temporary refuge in Kazakhstan's neighbour, Kyrgyzstan. Meeting with residents who survived the violence, Tokayev called on law enforcement to punish perpetrators "regardless of their ethnicity." "Without this, we will not be able to restore order in the country." Kazakhstan's interior ministry said in the aftermath of the conflict that police had arrested more than 40 people, but has not said how many are still being held. Dungans are ethnic Chinese Muslims who escaped from China amid persecutions nearly 150 years ago and are known as Hui in their historical homeland. More than 100,000 live in Central Asia -- an ex-Soviet region dominated by Turkic groups -- mostly in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. dr-cr/pma
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