ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Military prosecutors in Kazakhstan say three officers have been arrested for beating conscripts in a pattern of intimidation that led to the recent desertion of 11 soldiers from a remote border post near China.

The office of the Chief Military Prosecutor said Thursday that one of the detainees was the head of the frontier station.

The deserting soldiers were apprehended and told investigators they were victims of hazing.

That incident came just three weeks after 14 troops were killed at another remote outpost bordering China, allegedly by a fellow soldier.

(AP)