Servicemen in armored personnel carriers and armored personnel carriers surrounded the protesters in Alma-Ata, Sputnik Kazakhstan reports.
“The military on armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles took the thugs in the center of Alma-Ata into a ring,” the agency said in its Telegram.
Earlier, the Mir 24 TV channel reported that a large-scale sweeping operation from looters began in Almaty on Thursday morning, with the military and representatives of law enforcement agencies taking part in the operation.
Protest actions in Kazakhstan began in the first days of the new year. Residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau, which are located in the oil-producing Mangistau region, rallied to protest against a two-fold increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas, which is used as fuel for cars. The Republican Ministry of Energy explained that from January 1, its value began to be formed at electronic exchange trading based on supply and demand.
On the morning of January 5, Tokayev dismissed the government and instructed to introduce state regulation of prices for liquefied gas and gasoline for six months. He also announced that he was becoming the head of the Security Council, which was previously headed by the first president of the republic, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and announced new measures to resolve the situation. At a meeting of the Security Council, Tokayev said that he had asked the CSTO for help “in overcoming the terrorist threat.” The organization’s Collective Security Council soon decided to send a collective peacekeeping force to Kazakhstan, which, it was reported, would remain there for a limited time.
Tokayev warned the protesters that the authorities would take the toughest measures against the violators, as the security forces had already died and suffered as a result of the riots.
A state of emergency was introduced throughout the republic.