Riots in Kazakhstan this week are believed to have claimed more than 160 lives as authorities in Central Asia's largest country continue their relentless crackdown, with nearly 6,000 arrests.
Read also In Kazakhstan, the power promises to restore order
In Almaty alone, the economic capital where the most violent riots took place, 103 people were killed out of a total of 164 in the country, according to a report published Sunday, January 9, 2021 on the government's Telegram channel before be withdrawn, with the Ministry of Health telling Russian and Kazakh media that the information had been published in error.
However, there has been no official denial of these figures or a new assessment.
This toll, which could not be independently verified, is rising sharply, with authorities having so far reported 26 protesters and 16 members of the security forces killed and more than 2,000 injured.
The presidency announced Sunday that 5,800 people had been arrested, including
"a substantial number of foreigners"
, and 125 investigations opened in the wake of these riots unprecedented since the independence, in 1989, of this country of 19 million. inhabitants rich in hydrocarbons.
Read alsoThe crisis in Kazakhstan increases uranium and oil
"The situation is stabilized in all regions of the country"
, even if the security forces are still carrying out
"cleaning"
operations , declared the presidency after a crisis meeting with the head of state, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The protest began in the provinces last Sunday after the increase in gas prices, before reaching major cities, including Almaty, where the police fired live ammunition at demonstrators storming official buildings.
According to the Kazakh Interior Ministry, the material damage caused by the violence was initially estimated at around 175 million euros.
More than 100 businesses and banks were looted and more than 400 vehicles destroyed, according to the same source.
Kazakhstan announced on Saturday the arrest of the former director of intelligence services, Karim Massimov, the first major figure arrested, on suspicion of
"high treason"
.
"Shoot to kill"
Refusing any dialogue with the demonstrators, President Tokayev had authorized his forces on Friday to
"shoot to kill"
.
Condemning this order, the head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken estimated Sunday on ABC that
the authorities in Kazakhstan should be able to deal with the challenges they face peacefully, to ensure that the rights of those who demonstrate peacefully be protected ”
.
Read also In Kazakhstan, a fierce repression falls on the rioters
Shy reopening
A sign of a timid return to normal, supermarkets reopened their doors on Sunday in Almaty, as the population worried about shortages.
Long queues of vehicles have formed in particular in recent days in front of gas stations.
However, in Almaty, police fired shots in the air several times on Saturday to prevent residents from approaching the town's central square.
Almaty also still bore the scars of violence, with building facades blackened by flames and scorched car wrecks littering the streets.
In addition to the rise in the cost of living, the figure of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who reigned with an iron fist over Kazakhstan from 1989 to 2019, crystallized the anger of the demonstrators.
Read also Kazakhstan: "Post-Soviet Domino"
His spokesperson, Aïdos Oukibaï, once again denied Sunday that Nursultan Nazarbayev had left the country, assuring that he supported Tokayev.
Amid rumors of a power struggle, he also claimed that Nazarbayev had ceded the leadership of the National Security Council on his own initiative to Tokayev, who had abruptly announced this week that he was taking the reins.
Concern abroad
The situation in Kazakhstan is followed with concern abroad.
Pope Francis thus expressed his
“pain”
on Sunday and called for
“dialogue”
to find peace.
Moscow has deployed troops to the Central Asian country as part of a multinational contingent of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CTSC), at the call of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The United States said it would be
"very difficult"
for Kazakhstan to get the Russian military to leave, a criticism Moscow called
"crass on Saturday"
.
While American and Russian representatives are due to meet from Sunday evening in Geneva to talk about Ukraine and Europe, Moscow has ruled out any discussion with Washington on Kazakhstan.
"This question does not concern them at all,"
swept the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov.
