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Ahram Online
Following days of unprecedented unrest, Kazakhstan’s President rejected calls for talks with protesters on Friday. He vowed to “destroy the armed bandits”, and authorised forces to “shoot to kill without warning”.
This weeks’ protests over fuel prices escalated into widespread violence, especially in main city Almaty.
“Terrorists continue to damage property… and use weapons against civilians. I have given the order to law enforcement authorities to shoot to kill without warning”, Tokayev said in his third televised address this week. He ridiculed calls from abroad for negotiations as “nonsense”.
“We are dealing with armed and trained bandits, both local and foreign. With bandits and terrorists. So, they must be destroyed. This will be done shortly”, Tokayev added.
Long seen as one the most stable of the ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia, energy-rich Kazakhstan is facing its biggest crisis in decades.
On Wednesday, protesters stormed government buildings in Almaty and fought running battles with police and the military. Officials said 748 security officers were wounded and 18 killed.
Tokayev said, “Almaty had been attacked by 20,000 bandits with a clear plan of attack, action coordination and high combat readiness”.
He gave his “special thanks to Russian President Vladimir Putin”, after the Moscow lead Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) sent troops to Kazakhstan to help quell the unrest.
“Security forces had taken all the country’s regions under increased protection. 26 armed criminals had been killed and 18 wounded in the unrest”, the Kazakh Interior Ministry said on Friday.
Western powers have called for restraint on all sides. US State Department spokesman, Ned Price, warned Russian troops in Kazakhstan against taking control of the country’s institutions.
