ASTANA, June 6. /TASS/. Police in Kazakhstan are continuing the search for extremists who attacked gun shops and an army unit in the northwestern city of Aktobe, the republic’s Interior Minister Kalmukhambet Kassymov said on Monday on the sidelines of a government meeting.
"Now we have 12 killed [extremists - TASS] and six injured. We are searching for around six or seven people. They have five pieces of firearms on them," Kassymov said.
The minister has stressed that the attacks are a "terrorist act," adding that there are "enough forces and means" in Aktobe now to conduct a counter-terrorism operation.
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The republic’s Interior Ministry said a group of "followers of radical, nontraditional religious movements" attacked on Sunday gun shops and an army unit of the National Guard in Aktobe, a city located 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Russia’s border. Six people were killed in the attack, including three troops. Almost 40 others were wounded, and two of them later died. Police reported that some attackers were killed and several others were detained. A search for the others is underway and all of them have been identified.
A counterterrorism operation has been launched in the Aktobe region. The country’s troops have been put on alert. The situation in the city is "stable" and enterprises and public transport are working as normal, an official spokesman for the ministry said. The situation in the city is under personal control of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.