Kazakh officials say nine people described as "terrorists" have been killed in a special operation in a village some 15 kilometers southwest of Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty.
A spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office, Nurdaulet Suindikov, said the nine were killed when they opened fire on security forces sent to the village of Tan to apprehend them.
Suindikov said no civilians were injured in the shoot-out between the armed group and security forces.
He also said the nine suspects were not involved in the
recent killings of 11 people in a nearby national park.
He said they were connected, however, to a previously unreported incident on July 11 in the village of Tausamaly when a bomb being assembled accidentally exploded, killing an unknown number of people.
Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and Interfax