NUR-SULTAN, January 4. /TASS/. Police pushed practically all protestors away from the Republic Square, the central square of the country’s largest city of Almaty, the zakon.kz news portal reported on Tuesday.

"Police pushed practically all protestors out of the [Republic] Square. The protestors <…> are leaving via the Abay Prospect," the report says.

According to the news portal, law enforcement officers had to use stun grenades to disperse the crowd. The city administration building is cordoned off by police and riot police units.

Later in the day, the portal reported taht Kazakh police officers were trying to prevent protestors from smashing shop windows in Almaty.

"According to zakon.kz correspondents, protestors are trying to smash windows of shops and restaurants. At least one shop window is reported to have been broken. Law enforcers are trying to prevent those actions and to contain the crowd," the report says.

On January 2, people took to the streets in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangistau region, protesting against high fuel prices. According to them, the price per liter of liquefied gas increased to 120 tenge ($0.27) since January 1, so the demonstrators demanded to halve it, to 50-60 tenge ($0.11 - $0.13). The president commissioned the government to assess urgently the situation in the region, taking into account economic feasibility and legal issues. The government commission held talks with a group of activists in the Mangistau region on January 4, discussing the price of liquefied gas and possible solutions to the crisis.