Moscow, Jan 9, (dpa/GNA) – A total of 164 people have been killed during the past week of protests in Kazakhstan, according to Health Ministry figures cited by state-run media.

More than 2,200 people were said to have been injured in the violence, which saw Kazakh security forces respond with a heavy hand to anti-government protesters.

According to the Health Ministry, 719 people were being treated in hospitals on Sunday, 83 of them in critical condition. The authorities did not comment on the nature of the injuries.

It is difficult to independently verify information in the tightly controlled Central Asian country.

Demonstrations prompted by soaring fuel prices began a week ago in western Kazakhstan, a country bigger than Western Europe, before turning into a broader revolt against the authoritarian government.

In Almaty, the country’s largest city, the protests devolved into riots and clashes that left buildings torched and businesses looted.

According to the report on state television, 103 people including two children, died in Almaty alone. Some 1,100 people there sought medical help, it said.

It was initially unclear how many of the victims were civilians. Previously, the authorities had spoken of more than 40 dead, among them at least 16 police officers and soldiers.

On Friday, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had issued a shoot-to-kill order against protesters, threatening his government’s survival.

Following a crisis meeting on Sunday, his office said operations to contain the protests were continuing, and described the situation as under control.

“Measures are being taken to locate and arrest terrorists,” it said.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Sunday condemned the shoot-to-kill order in comments to the CNN broadcaster.

“If that’s the national policy, I condemn that policy,” Blinken said.

“The authorities in Kazakhstan should be able to deal with the challenges that they’re facing peacefully, to make sure that the rights of those who are protesting peacefully are protected,” he said.

So far, almost 6,000 people have been arrested, including many foreigners, according to the presidential office. Tokayev has repeatedly said that the protesters are supported from abroad, but has offered little evidence to support the claim.

Interior Minister Erlan Turgumbayev said more than 100 shopping centers, bank buildings and about 400 vehicles, mostly police cars, were destroyed, in comments to the Khabar 24 broadcaster.

In Almaty, the unprecedented unrest has left behind severe destruction, one resident told dpa on the phone on Sunday.

“Today the situation in the city is relatively calm,” the journalist, who lives near the city center, said, adding that he could still hear shots being fired the previous evening.

Many grocery shops had been looted, he said: “Banks, ATMs, everything’s destroyed.” Long queues had formed in front of reopened bakeries. The internet in Almaty was still down, the 50-year-old said. Mobile phone connections have also been unreliable.

Around 2,000 protesters passed by his house on Friday, the journalist reported. Some of them had been carrying sticks.

Meanwhile, authorities have been trying to restore a sense of normality.

The Ministry of Trade said supplies of basic foodstuffs had been secured in remote regions, Russian news agency TASS reported. The Energy Ministry said fuel was starting to be supplied.

Since the protests erupted, Tokayev has dismissed the government and top leaders from the country’s Security Council, declared a state of emergency and asked a Russian-led military alliance for help.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), an alliance of former Soviet states, has sent 2,500 paratroopers to Kazakhstan as part of a peacekeeping force.

Its member states are now planning to hold a video conference on Monday to discuss further steps, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency Interfax on Sunday.

Referring to the CSTO, Blinken said on Sunday that Washington was seeking clarification from the Kazakh government on why it “felt compelled to call in this organization that Russia dominates.”

GNA

Moscow, Jan 9, (dpa/GNA) – A total of 164 people have been killed during the past week of protests in Kazakhstan, according to Health Ministry figures cited by state-run media.

More than 2,200 people were said to have been injured in the violence, which saw Kazakh security forces respond with a heavy hand to anti-government protesters.

According to the Health Ministry, 719 people were being treated in hospitals on Sunday, 83 of them in critical condition. The authorities did not comment on the nature of the injuries.

It is difficult to independently verify information in the tightly controlled Central Asian country.

Demonstrations prompted by soaring fuel prices began a week ago in western Kazakhstan, a country bigger than Western Europe, before turning into a broader revolt against the authoritarian government.

In Almaty, the country’s largest city, the protests devolved into riots and clashes that left buildings torched and businesses looted.

According to the report on state television, 103 people including two children, died in Almaty alone. Some 1,100 people there sought medical help, it said.

It was initially unclear how many of the victims were civilians. Previously, the authorities had spoken of more than 40 dead, among them at least 16 police officers and soldiers.

On Friday, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had issued a shoot-to-kill order against protesters, threatening his government’s survival.

Following a crisis meeting on Sunday, his office said operations to contain the protests were continuing, and described the situation as under control.

“Measures are being taken to locate and arrest terrorists,” it said.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Sunday condemned the shoot-to-kill order in comments to the CNN broadcaster.

“If that’s the national policy, I condemn that policy,” Blinken said.

“The authorities in Kazakhstan should be able to deal with the challenges that they’re facing peacefully, to make sure that the rights of those who are protesting peacefully are protected,” he said.

So far, almost 6,000 people have been arrested, including many foreigners, according to the presidential office. Tokayev has repeatedly said that the protesters are supported from abroad, but has offered little evidence to support the claim.

Interior Minister Erlan Turgumbayev said more than 100 shopping centers, bank buildings and about 400 vehicles, mostly police cars, were destroyed, in comments to the Khabar 24 broadcaster.

In Almaty, the unprecedented unrest has left behind severe destruction, one resident told dpa on the phone on Sunday.

“Today the situation in the city is relatively calm,” the journalist, who lives near the city center, said, adding that he could still hear shots being fired the previous evening.

Many grocery shops had been looted, he said: “Banks, ATMs, everything’s destroyed.” Long queues had formed in front of reopened bakeries. The internet in Almaty was still down, the 50-year-old said. Mobile phone connections have also been unreliable.

Around 2,000 protesters passed by his house on Friday, the journalist reported. Some of them had been carrying sticks.

Meanwhile, authorities have been trying to restore a sense of normality.

The Ministry of Trade said supplies of basic foodstuffs had been secured in remote regions, Russian news agency TASS reported. The Energy Ministry said fuel was starting to be supplied.

Since the protests erupted, Tokayev has dismissed the government and top leaders from the country’s Security Council, declared a state of emergency and asked a Russian-led military alliance for help.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), an alliance of former Soviet states, has sent 2,500 paratroopers to Kazakhstan as part of a peacekeeping force.

Its member states are now planning to hold a video conference on Monday to discuss further steps, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency Interfax on Sunday.

Referring to the CSTO, Blinken said on Sunday that Washington was seeking clarification from the Kazakh government on why it “felt compelled to call in this organization that Russia dominates.”

GNA