NUR-SULTAN, January 8. /TASS/. Internet access in Kazakhstan was blocked on Saturday afternoon amid ongoing riots in parts of the country, Globalcheck project announced on Telegram.
"The Internet was turned off again. It worked a little over 7 hours," the statement said.
TASS correspondent in Nur-Sultan confirmed that the Internet became unavailable in the capital of Kazakhstan some time ago.
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.