In the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, the authorities have introduced a state of emergency - protests continue in other regions of the country.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree on the introduction of a state of emergency in the capital of the country. The state of emergency is introduced from 5 to midnight on January 19, reports Russian Interfax.
In addition, the media report that the building of the residence of the head of Kazakhstan in Almaty was burned - firefighters confirmed the information.
Telegram channel Zakon.kz also reported that the office of the Nur Otan party is burning in Almaty. In addition, the presidential residence in Almaty was taken by protesters.
Hours after he declared a state of emergency in large parts of the country in response to a rare outbreak of unrest, Kazakhstan’s president has accepted the resignation of the government and has appointed Alikhan Smailov as acting prime minister, the president’s office said early on Wednesday. Smailov was previously the first deputy prime minister.
The political moves follow protests, sparked by rising fuel prices, that began in the west of the country over the weekend and have spread quickly.
Videos of protesters' clashes with security forces in different regions of Kazakhstan began to appear on the Internet.
It's worth noting that the protests began over the weekend in the oil city of Zhanaozen. The initial spark for outrage was the sharply rising price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used by many to power their cars, particularly in the west of Kazakhstan. The price doubled in a matter of days.
By January 4, demonstrations expanded to the whole country.
On Tuesday evening, video footage from Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, showed lines of riot police and numerous crowd control vehicles massed in the centre of the city.
Police used stun grenades and teargas after crowds refused to disperse, AFP reported, estimating there were more than 5,000 people present. Later, there were unverified reports of police cars on fire in Almaty, and videos from a number of other cities appeared to show protesters braving subzero temperatures and a large presence of security forces.
Mobile internet was down and messaging apps were blocked across large parts of the authoritarian Central Asian nation.
State of emergency is now imposed in all major cities.