Nearly 8,000 detained in Kazakhstan amid unrest

Vendors clean up their store that was broken into and looted during clashes in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Monday. Pic/AP

The authorities in Kazakhstan said Monday that nearly 8,000 people were detained by police during protests that descended into violence last week and marked the worst unrest the former Soviet nation has faced since gaining independence 30 years ago.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday described the events of last week as "terrorist aggression" against the country and dismissed reports of the authorities fighting peaceful demonstrators as "disinformation."

Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry reported that a total of 7,939 people have been detained across the country. The National Security Committee, Kazakhstan's counterintelligence and anti-terrorism agency, said Monday that the situation in the country has "stabilized and is under control."

The authorities have declared Monday a day of mourning for dozens of victims of the unprecedentedly violent unrest. The country's Health Ministry said Sunday that 164 people, including three children, were killed in the unrest.

The demonstrations began on Jan. 2 over a near-doubling of prices for a type of vehicle fuel and quickly spread across the country, apparently reflecting wider discontent with the authoritarian government.
In a concession, the government announced a 180-day price cap on vehicle fuel and a moratorium on utility rate increases. As the unrest mounted, the ministerial cabinet resigned and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev replaced Nursultan Nazarbayev, former longtime leader of Kazakhstan, as head of the National Security Council.

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