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104 rioters detained in Kazakhstan’s Atyrau region - authorities

Seven police cars have been damaged and 25 law enforcers have been wounded

NUR-SULTAN, January 7. /TASS/. More than 100 rioters have been detained in Kazakhstan’s Atyrau region, the Khabar-24 television channel reported on Friday, citing local authorities.

"According to the local authorities, 104 participants in riots have been detained. Seven police cars have been damaged and 25 law enforcers have been wounded. Four are in hospital, including one in serious condition," it said.

According to Khabar-24, roadblocks have been established in the Atyrau region, protection od strategic facilities has been reinforced. "The general situation in the region is stable. Public transport and marketplaces are operating routinely. Atyrau’s central square is empty, with all tents having been removed," it said.

Yerzhan Kalymbaiuly, a spokesman for the local administration, confirmed that the situation in the city is calm and all social facilities are operating routinely. "A crisis center has been set up to combat terrorists. As for the damage from looting, a special commission has been established to calculate it," he said.

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2 to grow into mass riots with attacks on government buildings in many cities several days later. Thousands have been injured and fatalities have also been reported. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a post-Soviet security bloc. CSTO peacekeepers have already been deployed to Kazakhstan. According to the Kazakh authorities, law and order had been restored in all of the country’s regions by the morning on January 7. However, the situation in Almaty is still very tense.