“Dozens” of demonstrators were killed by police overnight from Wednesday to Thursday as they tried to seize administrative buildings in Kazakhstan, police said in the country facing chaotic riots.
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“Last night, extremist forces attempted to storm administrative buildings, the Almaty city police department, as well as local departments and police stations,” said the spokesperson for Almaty. police Saltanat Azirbek, cited by the Interfax-Kazakhstan, TASS and Ria Novosti agencies.
“Dozens of attackers have been eliminated and their identities are being identified,” he added.
According to Mr. Azirbek, an “anti-terrorism” operation is underway in one of the neighborhoods 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.
Moscow and its allies of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) announced on Thursday the dispatch of a “collective peacekeeping force” to Kazakhstan, as requested by this ex-Soviet republic shaken by chaotic riots that started as a movement of anger in the provinces due to the rise in gas prices.
According to the Kazakh Interior Ministry quoted by local media, at least eight members of the security forces were killed and 317 injured.