In the largest city of Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata, riots erupted again, the Republic Square is blocked by armored personnel carriers, explosions of stun grenades are heard in different parts of the city. It is reported by Interfax with reference to eyewitnesses.
According to the agency’s interlocutors, a congestion of aggressive young people is observed at the intersection of Tole bi street and the Eastern bypass road, as well as at the other end of the city – in the Aksai microdistrict on Tole bi and Momysh-uly street. These areas are cordoned off by police and military. Sounds of explosions and bright flashes can be heard from there.
Currently, the police are setting up cordons at the intersection of al-Farabi and Nazarbayev streets. Public transport does not work in the city, stops are overcrowded with people trying to leave for work.
Earlier, the mayor of Alma-Ata Bakytzhan Sagintayev said that the situation in the city was taken under the control of local authorities. According to him, provocateurs and extremists are being detained in the city, as well as the search for the instigators of the riots.
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In Alma-Ata and in the Mangistau region, for the period of the state of emergency from January 5 to 19, a curfew was imposed from 23.00 to 7.00. Mass events, including strikes and peaceful gatherings, are prohibited in the city and the region, a ban on entry and exit from Alma-Ata and the Mangistau region is introduced, the sale of weapons and ammunition is prohibited, and a special regime for the circulation of drugs and alcohol is established.
Protests in Kazakhstan against the rise in fuel prices began on January 2. In some cities, protesters called on the first president of the republic, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to withdraw from politics. On January 4, protesters clashed with security forces on Republic Square in Almaty, and riots broke out in other cities of the country.
As a result, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, introduced a state of emergency and a curfew in the city and in the Mangistau region, and later accepted the resignation of the government of the republic.
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