Kazakhstan protests turn deadly as crowds storm, torch public buildings

Protests around Kazakhstan havekilled eight security personnel and injured 317, a news agencysaid on Wednesday, as President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev failed toquell public outrage over the influence of his powerfulpredecessor.No figures on civilian casualties were released.

Protesters, initially angered by a New Year's Day fuel pricerise, have stormed and torched public buildings and chantedslogans against security chief Nursultan Nazarbayev, who hasretained wide authority despite stepping down as president in2019 after nearly 30 yearsin power.

Nazarbayev, the 81-year-old former president, has still been widely seenas the main political force in Nur-Sultan, the purpose-builtcapital that bears his name. His family is believed to controlmuch of the Kazakh economy, the largest in Central Asia.

Tokayev said hehad taken over from Nazarbayevas head of the country's Security Council andpromised to act with "maximum toughness" amid the worst unrestfor more than a decade.Tokayev also removed Nazarbayev's nephew as No. 2 at theState Security Committee Wednesday, successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

The cabinet also resigned, but that failed toquell the demonstrations.

Tokayev said on state television shortly before midnight that he hadcalled on other countries in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, an alliance of ex-Soviet states including Russia, for assistance in restoring order.Armenian PrimeMinister Nikol Pashinyan said the organization would dispatch peacekeepers,in a statementpublished by Russia's news agency. He did not say how many peacekeepers would be sent,or when they would arrive.

Tokayev claimed the unrest was led by "terrorist bands" that had received help from unspecified other countries.

The protesters seized control of the airport in Almaty,Kazakhstan's biggest city, a source familiar with the mattertold Reuters. All flights to and from Almaty were temporarilycancelled, the source said.

Police fired on some protesters at the presidential palace before fleeing. They have clashed repeatedly with demonstrators in recent days, deploying water cannons in the freezing weather, tear gas and concussion grenades.

Both the United States and Russia appealed for calm.

Kazakhstan declared emergencies in the capital, main city and provincesafter demonstrators stormed and torched public buildings, the worst unrest for more than a decade in a tightly-controlled country that promotes an image of stability.

'Old man, go away!'

Though the unrest was triggered by thefuel price rise, crowdsexpressed clear anger at Nazarbayev's continued influence.

In the city of Aqtobe, what appeared to be several hundredprotesters gathered on a square shouting: "Old man, go away!" Avideo posted online showed police using water cannon and stungrenades against protesters near the mayor's office there.

A resident of Almaty who mingled with the protesters onWednesday said most of those he met appeared to come from thecity's impoverished outskirts or nearby villages and towns.

At the main square, vodka was being distributed and somepeople were discussing whether to head towardthe city bazaaror a wealthy residential area for possible looting, the residentsaid.

"There is complete anarchy in the street. Police are nowhereto be seen," he said.

Footage posted on the internet showed protesters chantingbelow a giant bronze statue of Nazarbayev, strung with ropes inan apparent attempt to pull it down. A woman who posted it toTwitter said it was filmed in the eastern city of Taldykorgan.

An Instagram live stream by a Kazakh blogger showed a fire blazing in the office of the Almaty mayor, with apparent gunshots audible nearby. Videos posted online also showed the nearby prosecutor's office burning.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters journalists saw thousands of protesters pressing toward Almaty city centre, some of them on a large truck. Security forces,in helmets and riot shields, fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades.

The city's police chief said Almaty was under attack by "extremists and radicals," who had beaten up 500 civilians and ransacked hundreds of businesses.

Authorities appeared to have shut the country off the internet as the unrest spread. Netblocks, a site that monitors global internet connectivity, said the country was "in the midst of a nation-scale internet blackout."

The unrest is the biggest test yet of Tokayev, 68, who took power in 2019 as hand-picked successor to Nazarbayev, a former Communist Party boss who had become the longest-serving ruler in the former Soviet Union by the time he stepped down.

Kazakhstan's reputation for political stability under three decades of one-man rule by Nazarbayev helped it attract hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investment in its oil and metals industries, but the pandemic has led to economic pressures, as elsewhere.

The interior ministry said earlier that government buildings were also attacked in the southern cities of Shymkent and Taraz overnight, with 95 police wounded in clashes. Police have detained more than 200 people.

A video posted online showed police using a water cannon and stun grenades against protesters in front of the mayor's office in Aktobe, capital of another western province.

Kazakhstan has been grappling with rising price pressures. Inflation was closing in on nineper cent year-on-year late last year its highest level in more than five years forcing the central bank to raise interest rates to 9.75 per cent.

Some analysts said the protests pointed to more deep-rooted issues.

"I think there is an underlying undercurrent of frustrations in Kazakhstan over the lack of democracy," said Tim Ash, emerging market strategist at BlueBay Asset Management.

"Young, internet-savvy Kazakhs, especially in Almaty, likely want similar freedoms as Ukrainians, Georgians, Moldovans, Kyrgyzand Armenians, who have also vented their frustrations over the years with authoritarian regimes."

European and international election observers continually condemned the legitimacy of presidential elections in Kazakhstan under Nazarbayev, who regularly won with over 95 per cent of the vote. Voting irregularities and detentions of government opponents were also noted in the 2019 vote, which Tokayev won with a more modest 71 per cent total.

The Kremlin said it expected Kazakhstan, a close ally ofRussia, to quickly resolve its internal problems, warning othercountries against interfering.

Expressing concern over the situation, White House presssecretary Jen Psaki said Russian accusations that the UnitedStates had instigated the unrest were "absolutely false."