the president orders to “shoot to kill”

In Almaty, the economic capital of Kazakhstan, 48 hours after the riots, the city looks like a battlefield. Official buildings set on fire, wrecks of cars, looted shops… scenes unimaginable a few days ago in this former Soviet republic, usually calm. Violence between demonstrators and the police killed dozens.

Since then, the state of emergency has been declared, the army is everywhere, the tension remains high. To fire is the order given a few hours earlier by President Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev, which also excludes any negotiation with the rioters. “They are terrorists, they destroyed public and private property and used weapons against civilians”, said the head of state. The objective of power is to quickly stifle this revolt born of the rise in the price of gas. Russian soldiers have already arrived in the country in order to bring the situation under control.