Kazakhstan Hundreds of residents from many villages in Zhambyl clash left 8 dead, dozens injured today.

Initially about 70 people took part in the fight in several villages in the Kordai district of Zhambyl province, near Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan with 19 million people, but then about 300 people came from other villages, causing The clash became more intense.

During an emergency government meeting today, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said 30 houses, 15 commercial areas and 23 cars were burned in the clashes. A video on social media shows a group of young people holding sticks walking on the street, while nearby houses catch fire.

Zhambyl is a province with many Dungans, a Chinese Muslim community. People of Kazakh descent are believed to have carried out attacks against the minority, but Kazakh officials have not disclosed the cause of the conflict.

Kazakhstan has deployed security forces to control the situation in the villages and arrested 47 violent people, confiscating two hunting rifles. Two policemen were injured by bullets while trying to control the situation.

President Tokayev asked to investigate and prosecute individuals who spread "rumors and false information with provocative content" about ethnic minorities, believed to be the cause of the clash.

Information and Social Development Minister Dauren Abayev said an open-air market in Almaty had to close after "violent appeals" spread there.