DVery violent riots broke out in Kazakhstan on the night of Wednesday January 5 to Thursday January 6. Several hundred demonstrators tried to storm administrative buildings. Russian troops arrived in Kazakhstan on Thursday to support the ruling powers.
The toll of these disturbances is heavy: the authorities have reported dozens of demonstrators killed and more than a thousand people injured, including 62 seriously. At least 18 members of the security forces were killed and 748 injured. The largest country in Central Asia is shaken by a protest that erupted Sunday in the west after a rise in gas prices before reaching Almaty, where protests turned into a riot against power.
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“It’s a real revolution”
Under pressure from the streets, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sacked the government and conceded a drop in the price of gas. “In literally three days, a revolution has occurred. It’s a real revolution, ”said Kazakh opponent Moukhtar Abliazov, a political refugee in France, to Agence France-Presse.
As the internet was cut, the country’s financial institutions have suspended operations, as have airports in Almaty, the capital Nur-Sultan and the major cities of Aktobe and Aktau. Kazakhstan, the region’s main economy, includes a large Russian minority and is of crucial economic and geopolitical importance to Russia.
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Images of looting disseminated on social networks
The violence shocked Kazakhstan, a country of about 19 million people rich in natural resources, known for its stable and authoritarian government. The United States has warned Russian troops against any human rights violation or attempt to “take control” of the country’s institutions.
At the same time, the repression is in full swing: the authorities, who have established a state of emergency and a night curfew, announced Thursday that around 2,300 people had been arrested in Almaty alone. An “anti-terrorist” operation is underway in one of the districts of Almaty, the economic capital of this Central Asian country, where the riots have been the most violent. Images circulated in the media and on social networks showed shops looted and some administrative buildings raided and set on fire in Almaty, while automatic weapon fire could be heard.