Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry has announced the arrest of a forest ranger in connection with the slayings of 12 people in the Ile-Alatau National Park, near the city of Almaty.
The house of the suspect, Aleksei Shkilev, was found burned down on August 13 and the bodies of several men and women were discovered in the ruins.
Police said six men and women were found stabbed to death in another part of the park the same day.
The 12 victims included the park's senior forest ranger, Panayot Zakharopulo, 76, his relatives, and fellow forest rangers.
In late May, a Kazakh forest ranger and 14 border guards were killed and their bodies burned at a remote outpost along the Kazakh-Chinese border, in the same region.
Officials have not drawn a link between the two cases.
The house of the suspect, Aleksei Shkilev, was found burned down on August 13 and the bodies of several men and women were discovered in the ruins.
Police said six men and women were found stabbed to death in another part of the park the same day.
The 12 victims included the park's senior forest ranger, Panayot Zakharopulo, 76, his relatives, and fellow forest rangers.
In late May, a Kazakh forest ranger and 14 border guards were killed and their bodies burned at a remote outpost along the Kazakh-Chinese border, in the same region.
Officials have not drawn a link between the two cases.
