A brawl and a series of clashes in several villages in Kazakhstan's southern Zhambyl province have left eight people dead and scores wounded, Interior Minister Yerlan Turgumbayev said on Saturday.

Police and the National Guard now have the situation under control, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a statement, ordering the government to take steps to maintain calm in the villages.

The area where the clashes took place is home to many members of the Dungan minority group, Muslims of Chinese ethnic origin.

Tokayev urged a thorough investigation and instructed security agencies to prosecute those spreading ethnic hate speech, "provocative rumours and disinformation".