Kazakhstan: government, more than 5,100 arrests since the beginning of the riots

5,135 people have been arrested in Kazakhstan since the start of the violent riots that broke out during the week and left dozens of deaths on the ground, said Kazakh Interior Minister Erlan Tourgoumbaiev, quoted by local media. The arrests, he adds, occurred in relation to 125 different investigations. Also according to the Kazakh minister, the economic damage caused by the riots and violence amounts to about 175 million euros, with over 100 bank branches looted and 400 vehicles destroyed.

    A tense calm seems to have returned to Almaty and the other Kazakh cities: "Today the situation has stabilized in all regions of the country", said Tourgoumbaiev, adding that, however, "the anti-terrorism operation continues to re-establish theorder in the country ".

    An AFP correspondent noted that from time to time gunshots fired into the air by agents and soldiers are heard to prevent people from flowing into the central square of the former capital Almaty.

    Meanwhile, around thirty supermarkets have reopened their doors, local media say, allowing the population to shop after days of tension.