A few thousand Russian paratrooper units have since arrived in the country, along with several hundred from Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday appealed to Russia for help, asking a Moscow-led military alliance of former Soviet countries to send troops. The protests began a week ago, triggered by a rise in gas prices, but quickly spread and developed into the biggest uprising against Kazakhstan’s authoritarian government since it gained independence following the fall of the Soviet Union. Several journalists on the ground have reported seeing corpses lying in the street. The city center is wrecked, many shops looted and the roads are strewn with burnt-out cars.
Most shops are closed and people are struggling to find basic groceries, except for bread that is still being delivered, according to ABC’s reporter. Military units have set up checkpoints and are controlling access to the city. The main square, the key protest site, was occupied by security forces and blocked off with armored vehicles.Ī curfew is in effect in the evening and authorities have told people to remain indoors. It was not clear, but some of the shots appeared to be warning shots fired by troops, directing people not to approach police cordons, according to the ABC News reporter, who is not being named for safety reasons. The streets were mostly deserted on Saturday, but the occasional sound of gunshots could be heard. But under cover of an internet blackout, security forces using live fire have cleared the streets over the past three days in clashes that have left dozens killed, according to the government.
The city, the former capital, was the epicenter of the protests this week, where mobs stormed key government buildings and overran the airport. (ALMATY, Kazakhstan) - There are signs Kazakhstan’s president is slowly regaining control in the country, following a bloody clampdown by security forces to end days of mass protests and after Russian-led troops arrived to support the government.įor the second day in a row, Kazakhstan’s biggest city Almaty was eerily quiet and under heavy military control, according to an ABC News reporter there.
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