Protesters in Alma-Ata tried to seize the TV tower

The confrontation between security officials and protesters continues in Kazakhstan. According to the authorities, on the streets of the cities, peaceful protesters were replaced by looters and armed terrorists, among whom there were even snipers.

Participants in the riots in Alma-Ata twice tried to seize the TV tower, Interfax reports \, citing information from the deputy head of the presidential administration of Kazakhstan, Dauren Abayev.

As Abaev said on the air of the Khabar 24 state television channel, both attempts to seize the tower were stopped by border guards. According to the authorities, the protesters intended to go live on central television.

The second target of the protesters' attack was the Mir TV building on Republic Square. Terrorists have barricaded themselves in it.

As a result of the shootings on the streets of the city, the television group of the “Almaty” TV channel came under fire, the driver of the editorial car was killed. Five cameramen from the mayor's office were injured during the shelling. One of the victims had his fingers amputated. The journalists were fired upon at about 23:00 on January 6 at the presidential residence, which is located next to the mayor's office.

Protests in Almaty began on January 3. They were initially peaceful. However, soon, according to the authorities, provocateurs entered their ranks, as well as bandits with firearms, batons, Molotov cocktails and fittings. They began storming gun shops and attacking police officers, seizing their communications.

“The invaders acted professionally. First of all, they seized and destroyed the administrative buildings of the city, the offices of TV channels in Alma-Ata, ”the official said.

He added that in the group of these people there were snipers who shot at the security forces.

After the introduction of the peacekeeping contingent of the CSTO member countries to Kazakhstan, the republican authorities managed to regain control over all previously seized administrative buildings in the country by January 7.

More than 3,000 rioters were detained, 26 were eliminated. Investigating the causes and circumstances of the incident is being carried out by experts who are studying, among other things, the question of the suspects' involvement in extremist organizations.

The protests in Kazakhstan, which began as a reaction to a two-fold increase in fuel prices at gas stations in the west of the country, have continued since January 2. By January 5, they covered the entire republic. The participants in the speeches demanded the resignation from the leading post of the head of the Security Council of the former President of the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and demolished a monument dedicated to him.

During the clashes between protesters and security officials, more than 1,000 people were injured, at least 26 were killed.

On the morning of January 5, Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency and dismissed the government. He also stripped Nazarbayev of his post, which was sought by the protesters. At the same time, Tokayev appealed to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) with an application for military assistance, stating a "terrorist threat from outside" and the need to fight "marauders".

Russia, a member of the CSTO, on January 6 sent airborne troops to Kazakhstan as peacekeepers. The CSTO forces also included units of the armed forces of Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. This aroused the indignation of representatives of the Congress of the Russian intelligentsia and part of the residents of Kyrgyzstan, who went to a protest in Bishkek against the dispatch of troops to Kazakhstan.

In the afternoon of January 6, it became known that in a number of regions of the republic, the protesters, upon learning of Nazarbayev's resignation, announced that their demands had been satisfied and began to disperse peacefully. However, in some cities, performances continued. They had to be harshly suppressed by the security forces. In a number of cases, they opened fire to kill.