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Police officers lead a man on the verge of the protests: In Kazakhstan, security forces crack down on demonstrators
Photo:
Vasily Krestyaninov / imago images / SNA
After the serious unrest in Central Asian Kazakhstan, over 5,000 people have already been arrested across the country.
"So far, 5135 people have been arrested in all of Kazakhstan," said the interior ministry of the authoritarian-led ex-Soviet republic in the capital Nur-Sultan on Sunday morning.
The judicial authorities started investigations against those arrested for various offenses.
Among other things, they are charged with the destruction of more than 100 shopping centers or bank buildings, said the incumbent interior minister, Erlan Turgumbayev, on the TV station "Chabar 24".
Around 400 vehicles were destroyed during the riots, most of them police cars.
The authorities, meanwhile, tried to restore normalcy in the country.
In addition, the supply of staple foods to remote regions has been secured, according to the Ministry of Commerce, according to the Tass agency.
The energy ministry said the supply of fuel and liquefied gas had also started.
There was initially no new official information on the fatalities after President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev's order to shoot.
The authorities had previously spoken of more than 40 people killed - including security forces.
Tokayev ordered the police and army on Friday to shoot "without warning" at demonstrators whom he described as "terrorists" and "bandits".
It was feared that there could be many civilian deaths - especially in Almaty, a city of over a million people in southeastern Kazakhstan, which was badly shaken by the riots.
Long phone call between Tokayev and Putin
Because the authorities have switched off the Internet in Almaty and the cell phone connection keeps breaking down, it was still hardly possible to get secure information from there.
Photos show armed security forces leading protesters away.
Gunshot noises can be heard on videos on social networks allegedly from Almaty.
The so-called anti-terrorist operation is ongoing, reported the state broadcaster Khabar 24 on Saturday.
Kazakhstan, which borders Russia and China, has been experiencing the worst riots in years for days.
In many places, displeasure at the rise in fuel prices at petrol stations turned into peaceful, but sometimes also violent, protests against the government.
Tokayev declared a state of emergency and asked a Russian-led military alliance for help.
In view of the crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin also had a long phone call with his Kazakh counterpart on Saturday, according to the Kremlin.
Putin supports Tokayev's proposal to hold a video summit with the heads of state and government of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the coming days, a Kremlin statement said.
asc / dpa