More than 160 dead and 6,000 arrested in Kasakhistan protests

UNREST IN KAZAKHSTAN HAS KILLED 164 PEOPLE AND INJURED SOME 2,000, AS AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCED ON SUNDAY THEY HAD ARRESTED NEARLY 6,000 PEOPLE LINKED TO THE BLOODY REVOLTS THAT HAVE ROCKED Central Asia’S largest country throughout the week. The figures could not be confirmed by an independent source, but 103 of the deaths would have been recorded in Almaty, the economic capital, several media reported, citing the health ministry. The toll has worsened: until then, official sources had indicated that 26 demonstrators (“armed criminals” he calls them) and 16 members of the security forces were killed. In total, some 5,800 people have been detained, “among whom there are many foreigners,” during 125 separate investigations, the Kazakh presidency said in a statement, without providing further details. Read more: After 5-year-old girl was abused and stabbed to death, Russia seeks to send pedophiles to prisons in Siberia “The situation has stabilized across the country,” despite security forces continuing to carry out “clean-up” operations, the source added, after a crisis meeting called by the president, Kassym Jomart Tokayev. Kazakhstan, a hydrocarbon-rich country of 19 million people, was rocked by unrest unprecedented since independence in 1989 that killed dozens of people. The protest began last Sunday in provinces because of rising gas prices, to spread to large cities, including Almaty, where riots broke out and police fired live bullets at protesters. According to the Kazakh Interior Ministry, quoted by the local press on Sunday, the material damage was estimated at about 175 million euros ($199 million). More than 100 businesses and banks were looted and some 400 vehicles destroyed, according to the official source. On Saturday, former intelligence director Karim Massimov, the first major figure arrested, was arrested on suspicion of “high treason.” Rejecting any dialogue with protesters, Tokayev on Friday authorized security forces to “shoot to kill.” Almaty has returned to relative calm in recent days, where police officers fire shots into the air to prevent residents from approaching the city’s central square, an AFP journalist said on Saturday. Sign of the timid return to normality, about 30 supermarkets reopened this Sunday, according to the media, planning on the population the concern about a possible shortage. These days, you could see long lines of vehicles at gas stations. But, in Almaty there are still scars from the days of violence, with facades of buildings blackened by fire, and charred cars covering the streets. The local airport, which should reopen on Monday, will remain closed “until the situation stabilizes,” authorities said Sunday. In addition to the rising cost of living, the figure of former President Nazarbayev, who ruled with an iron fist from 1989 to 2019, is at the heart of the protesters’ anger. His spokesman, Aidos Ukibai, again denied this day that he had left the country, saying he supports Tokayev. Amid rumors of a power struggle, he also said That Tokayev voluntarily ceded to Nazarbayev the leadership of the National Security Council, following the latter’s announcement that he would take the reins of the country. In the traditional Sunday prayer of the Angelus, in St. Peter’s Square (Vatican), Pope Francis called for “dialogue” in this country, praying for “the dead and their families.” The Kazakh crisis has also led to more tensions between Russia and the United States, in a context of difficult relations between the two powers. Moscow deployed troops in the Central Asian country, part of a multinational contingent of the regional collective security treaty organization (CSTO), at Tokayev’s request. The United States considers that it will be “very difficult” for Kazakhstan to achieve the exit of the Russian army, a criticism that Moscow called “rude” on Saturday. Although U.S. and Russian representatives will meet Sunday night in Geneva to discuss Ukraine and Europe, Moscow dismisses any discussion with Washington on Kazakhstan.Read more: Venezuelan NGO denounces impunity for “execution” of 23 people a year ago “This matter does not concern him at all,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Sunday. Moscow military plane crashes and is captured on video

Original source in Spanish