NUR-SULTAN, January 10. /TASS/. Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies have detained nearly 8,000 people following mass riots, the country’s crisis center said in a statement on Telegram on Monday, citing information from state bodies.
"A total of 7,939 people have been detained across the country. Law enforcement officers, National Guard members and special forces apprehended 207 people at two markets in Almaty," the statement reads.
Police officers have confiscated five stolen cars, as well as stolen goods and valuables, two smoothbore weapons and four bladed weapons.
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities a few days later. The ensuing violence left scores of people injured, with fatalities also reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers have already been deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by January 7. Tokayev declared January 10 a day of national mourning.