ALMATY, January 5. /TASS/. Police patrols are absent from Almaty central streets and protesters are on the rampage in the city unhindered, a TASS correspondent reports from the scene.
Taxi drivers are also saying that neither police nor the military can be seen anywhere. The protesters are setting ablaze fire engines that are rushing to extinguish the fire that has swept the mayor’s office and the president’s residence. At least three fire engines have been burnt. The rioters are smashing the windows of stores, looting pharmacies and breaking cash dispensers.
Protests have been raging in Kazakhstan for the fourth day in a row. On January 2, crowds took to the streets in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangistau region in the country’s southwest, protesting against fuel price hikes. On the fourth day, the protests turned violent with their epicenter in Almaty.
The protesters seized the building of the Almaty administration and the president’s local residence and shattered the office of the Mir TV and Radio Company. As Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, terrorist gangs seized the airport and five airliners, including foreign planes in Almaty.
Tokayev earlier dismissed the government and also assumed the post of the country’s security chief, replacing the republic’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev amid raging riots. He also pledged tough measures.
As the Mir-24 TV Channel reported on Wednesday, a state of emergency was declared all across Kazakhstan. According to the information of the Khabar-24 TV Channel, the state of emergency will be in force until January 19. Kazakh President Tokayev earlier declared a state of emergency in the Mangistau and Almaty regions and also in Almaty and Nur-Sultan for two weeks.