Twelve border guards have been found dead at a frontier post in southeastern Kazakhstan, local media report.A top Border Service official confirmed on May 31 that an investigation was under way after the “charred remains of 13 people” had been discovered in a burnt-out border post the previous day. The bodies of 12 border guards and one national park ranger have so far been found at the Argkankergen post on the Chinese frontier and the search continues for others, Turganbek Stambekov, first deputy director of the Border Service (which comes under the jurisdiction of Kazakhstan’s domestic intelligence service, the KNB), said. He did not specify if the fire was the cause of death.Fuelling media suspicions of foul play, Stambekov said the border post is usually staffed by 15 guards in the summer, but gave no indication of the whereabouts of the missing three.Speculating about what might be behind this unusual incident, local reports suggested an attack on the border detachment (though the possible motive is unclear) or hazing -- it is common in post-Soviet military units for senior soldiers to ritually harass and bully their juniors.Initial reports that the frontier guards’ weapons were missing were not true, a Border Service source told the Kazinform state news agency. The source said the weapons had been found and sent for tests to see if they had been fired.The border post is located in Usharal district near the popular Lake Alakol resort. Officials have not specified its precise location, but the post is believed to be some kilometers from the tightly controlled international frontier with China. The nearest crossing between the two countries is at Dostyk, a major road and rail post through which trains between Almaty, Kazakhstan’s commercial capital, and Urumqi, capital of China’s Xinjiang province, pass.