Gun Battles Resume in Almaty, Kazakhstan

According to the Mir-24 TV channel, eyewitnesses confirmed that clashes took place in the vicinity of Republic Square

© Yerlan Dzhumayev/TASS

MOSCOW, January 6. /TASS/. Gun battles have reignited in Almaty as nightfall emerged, the Mir-24 TV channel reported.

According to the TV channel, eyewitnesses confirmed that clashes took place in the vicinity of Republic Square. 

The military is using loudspeakers demanding the streets be cleared out. In addition, all residents have received SMS messages reminding them of the curfew, the TV channel reported.

On January 2, crowds took to the streets in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangystau Region, in southwestern Kazakhstan, protesting against high fuel prices. Two days later, the demonstrations spilled over into Almaty, in the country’s southeast, where the police used flashbangs to disperse the crowd, as well as to other cities, including Atyrau, Aktobe (in the west), Uralsk (in the northwest), Taraz, Shymkent, Kyzylorda (in the south), Karaganda (in the northeast) and even Kazakhstan’s capital of Nur-Sultan. The president imposed a two-week state of emergency in the Mangystau Region and in the Almaty Region, as well as the republic’s largest city of Almaty and the capital Nur-Sultan. On January 5, the head of the state also accepted the government’s resignation. Its members will continue to perform their tasks until a new cabinet is formed.