A protest against the regime in Kazakhstan tonight (Wednesday) turned into an armed uprising as rebels and soldiers who defected from the army took control of the country's airport and public buildings in the city of Almaty, the country's largest city.
Armed demonstrators were recorded walking the city streets and smoke was recorded rising from some of the public buildings taken over by the rebels.
Kazakhstan's president, Qasim Tokayev, responded tonight to the country's ongoing protest as thousands demonstrate across the country against the cost of living and the political stalemate.
Tokayev said he would act with "maximum rigidity" against the protesters and warned that he would not back down from his position.
"As the leader of the state and the head of the National Security Council, I announce that I will act with the utmost rigidity," the president said, accusing "foreign elements" of stirring up the protest, which became mass and violent this morning.
"The events we see are an orchestrated campaign aimed at overthrowing the government and there are many hooligans among the protesters. We will cross this black line in Kazakh history and emerge from it when we are stronger."
The mass protest in Kazakhstan has today turned from a series of demonstrations scattered in various cities in the country into a huge protest approaching the rule of President Qassim Tokayev.
In the largest city in the state of Almaty, masses broke into the presidential palace, the residence of the president while in the city.
Kazakh President Qassim Tokyev,
The masses, angry at the cost of living and the political stalemate in the country, also stormed other governing structures in the country's largest city as well as other cities, especially in the west of the country, where protests began.
Earlier, President Tokayev fired all cabinet ministers and ordered a drop in fuel prices, the increase in fuel prices that led to the outbreak of an oil-rich Mengistau province in the west of the country.
The president ordered the dismissal of Samat Avish, the powerful nephew of former president Norsultan Nazarbayev, from the post of head of the National Security Council, after criticism that this is how the former president actually holds the country's power centers.
From President Tukayev this has not been heard for several hours and reports of private flight flights departing from the country to our country Europe in recent hours suggest that senior government officials may be fleeing their families from the explosive situation.
More than a hundred policemen were injured and dozens of vehicles were set on fire after protesters clashed into the night with police forces, without these being able to quell the huge demonstrations in the city of Almaty.
Videos uploaded to social media showed severe clashes that apparently involved live fire between the protesters and the army, during which at least one soldier was wounded.
This is a fairly rapid escalation of the protest that began last week.
In the city of Actao, soldiers and policemen joined the protesters and in the town of Actava the masses stormed the city hall and the police opened fire on the assailants.
The country's internet network has experienced disruptions aimed at making it difficult for the protesters to get organized, but it has not been completely discriminated against and videos and images are flowing from the explosive situation on the ground.
Kazakh policemen shoot at protesters in Almaty, Photo: Reuters
The protest began last week in the country's western Mangistau province, near the Caspian Sea, where citizens and oil industry workers demonstrated in protest of the authorities' decision to raise fuel prices.
The protest spread from labor camps and small towns to the provincial capital of Actao, where hundreds marched in protest on the city’s main streets.
As mentioned, today a protest arrived for the first time in the capital Norsultan and it seems that the authorities are determined to suppress the outbreak of the tremendous public outrage.
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, gained its independence in 1997 and was ruled until 2018 by President Nazarbayev, who established a loose autocratic regime in the country that allowed some opposition activity to power but narrowed its steps and stifled voices of protest.
The country has launched an unprecedented construction boom in the history of Kazakhstan and the oil money has been used to build a stable economy and a certain social support network for the citizens, which has helped prevent a significant protest so far.
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