ASTANA, June 19 (Itar-Tass) — Eleven conscripts of Kazakhstan’s border service have left, without permission, the Tersayryk border post. They were unarmed, the Kazakh border service reported on Tuesday.
According to the press service, the servicemen, who were drafted in November 2011, left the border post early on Monday. “The chief of the post first tried to organize the search, so he reported the incident only in the evening,” the press service said.
A search operation is underway. Border guards at this border section have been reinforced by servicemen from other posts.
“According to preliminary data, the servicemen left the post because of frequent hazing incidents,” the press service said. The military prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case.
This is a second serious incident at Kazakhstan’s border post in recent months. In late May, burnt bodies of 14 border guards and a forest ranger were found at the Arkankergen border post in the Almaty region. A serviceman from the same post is suspected of the murder.