Dozens of demonstrators killed by police in Kazakhstan – archyworldys

Whereas Moscow and its allies have announced the dispatch of a “Collective peacekeeping force”, the tension does not fall back on the streets of Kazakhstan. Protesters were killed by police in Almaty, the country’s economic capital, on the night of Wednesday January 5 to Thursday January 6, law enforcement said.

“Last night, extremist forces attempted to storm administrative buildings, the Almaty city police department, as well as local departments and police stations.”police spokesman Saltanat Azirbek said, quoted by Interfax-Kazakhstan, TASS and RIA Novosti agencies. “Dozens of attackers have been eliminated and their identity is being identified”, he added.

More than a thousand people were also injured in the protests, the health ministry announced on public television. “More than a thousand people were injured as a result of riots in different regions of Kazakhstan, nearly 400 of them were hospitalized and 62 people are in intensive care”, said the vice-minister, Ajar Guiniat, on the antenna of the channel Khabar-24 and quoted by the Interfax and TASS agencies.

According to the police spokesperson, an operation “Anti-terrorism” is underway in one of the neighborhoods of Almaty, 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 sends its first contingent

Since Sunday, Kazakhstan has been the scene of major demonstrations against, in particular, the rise in gas prices. More than two hundred protesters were arrested, according to local police. On the side of the police, three hundred and seventeen police officers were injured and eight of them lost their lives, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

Russia and its allies announced Thursday the dispatch of the first contingent of peacekeepers to Kazakhstan. “A collective peacekeeping force of the Collective Security Treaty Organization [OTSC, qui regroupe l’Arménie, la Biélorussie, le Kazakhstan, le Kirghizistan, la Russie et le Tadjikistan] was sent to Kazakhstan for a limited period in order to stabilize and normalize the situation ”, the military alliance said in a statement released on Telegram by Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. On Wednesday evening, the president asked for military aid from Moscow, believing that his country was under attack by groups “Terrorists” having “Received extensive training abroad”.

Earlier today, Tokayev declared a state of emergency throughout the territory. The president promised to“Act as firmly as possible” against these demonstrations. “As president, I am compelled to protect the security and peace of our citizens, to worry about the integrity of Kazakhstan”, he declared in Russian on Kazakh television.

Liquefied natural gas price problem

Thousands of protesters stormed the Almaty administration headquarters on Wednesday afternoon. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas, but could not prevent them from entering, according to journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP). Local media and witnesses on social media reported that the protesters then proceeded to the presidential residence in the city, which they set on fire, along with the city administration building and a television station. .

Kazakhstan, the largest of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia and the region’s main economy, accustomed to double-digit growth rates in the past, is suffering from falling oil prices and the economic crisis in Russia , which led to the devaluation of its currency, the tenge, and high inflation. The anger was really sparked at the end of the week by the rise in the prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG), in the city of Janaozen, in the west of this country rich in natural resources, before spreading to the big city Aktau region, located on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

On Tuesday evening, the authorities tried to calm the situation by conceding a reduction in the price of LNG, fixing it at 50 tenges (0.10 euros) per liter in the region, against 120 tenges at the start of the year. Justifying this regional concession, Mr. Tokayev explained on Twitter that it was“To ensure stability in the country”, but this promise did not lead to the dispersal of the demonstrators, who demanded to speak to the president. On Thursday, it was impossible to have a complete vision of the situation in the country, journalists and witnesses who could no longer be reached by Internet or by telephone, who were cut off.