Nearly 8,000 Arrested in Unrest in Kazakhstan

Nearly 8,000 people have been arrested in Kazakhstan over the last week’s unrest, the Interior Ministry reported. However, the internal security service KNB says that the situation is stable again in the Central Asian country.

 

Violence broke out on a large scale in the country of 19 million inhabitants last week. This happened after a sharp increase in fuel prices. At first, the protests were peaceful, but the atmosphere changed. Protesters stormed government buildings in Almaty, the largest city in the country, among other things.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believes that “terrorists and bandits” are behind the unrest. The president had ordered military personnel to fire on protesters without warning. However, with the help of Russian soldiers, Tokayev was able to regain control of the airport in the city of Almaty, among other things.

Authorities are now trying to get daily life back on track. In Almaty, people can again use the internet, which has been largely inaccessible since Wednesday. According to the AFP news agency, public transport is also operating in the city again.

It is still unclear how many people were killed last week. State media had reported 164 deaths last weekend, but authorities later withdrew a statement about that death toll. The Ministry told websites that had made the news of Information that the statement had been distributed due to a “technical error”.