ALMATY, January 6. /TASS/. The military in Almaty demanded over the loudspeakers that protesters leave the Republic Square and warned that they would open fire, TASS correspondent reported from the scene.

"Everyone leave the square, we are opening fire," the military said.

According to TASS correspondent, heavy fire was opened. According to eyewitnesses, there are wounded in Almaty, and strong explosions are heard from Republic Square, where riots continue.

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 protests engulfed Almaty, in the country’s southeast, where the police used flashbangs to disperse the crowd, as well as 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 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.