NUR-SULTAN, January 16. /TASS/. Nearly 150 civilians and 11 law enforcers were killed during riots in Kazakhstan’s Almaty, chief of the city police, Kanat Taimerdenov, said on Sunday.

Serik Shalabayev, chief of the criminal prosecution service of Kazakhstan’s prosecutor general’s office, said on Saturday that more than 4,500 people were hurt during the riots in Kazakhstan and 225 bodies were taken to morgues.

"Eleven law enforcement officers and 149 civilians were killed in Almaty," Taimerdenov said.

According to Shalabayev, the casualties include "armed bandits who took part in terror attacks and attacks on buildings and law enforcement."

As many as 249 people have been arrested in Almaty following riots in early January, the city’s prosecutor Berik Zhuiriktayev said.

"Law enforcement agencies are currently investigating 405 criminal cases. As many as 249 people have been arrested under court rulings," he said, adding that a special investigative team was set up.

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities, primarily in Almaty, a few days later. The ensuing violence left thousands of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers were deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions.