ASTANA -- Kazakhstan has sent an official protest note to Egypt asking the government to explain why it has detained six Kazakh citizens.
Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Anuar Zhainaqov said on August 1 that Astana also demanded that Cairo allow Kazakh diplomats to meet with the detained men.
Zhainaqov added that Egyptian officials have not given any explanations regarding the July 19 detention of the Kazakh students, who were studying Arabic and lived together in a Cairo apartment.
Only two of the detained students have thus far been identified.
Zhainaqov said earlier that the students are not thought to be Islamic extremists.
Kazakhstan says hundreds of its citizens have joined extremist groups in Syria and Iraq in recent years.
