Nur-Sultan Kazakhstan January 6 ANI Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev described those involved in Almaty civil unrest as terrorist gangs during a meeting broadcast by state television, Sputnik news agency reported.
According to Tokayev, gangs seized control over large objects, including planes. The President said the protests were an act of aggression and an attack on the citizens' safety.
The terrorist gangs are in essence international, they went through serious training abroad and their attack on Kazakhstan can and should be considered an act of aggression, according to Sputnik, as reported by Khabar 24.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he had reached out to the leaders of member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization CSTO, asking for assistance in tackling terrorist aggression in the republic.
Terrorist gangs are international, they have undergone extensive training abroad and their attack on Kazakhstan can and should be seen as an act of aggression. In this regard, and relying on the Collective Security Treaty, today I reached out to the heads of the CSTO member states to help with overcoming the terrorist threat, said Tokayev, quoted by Sputnik.
Nation-wide protests continued in Kazakhstan for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday as thousands of people flooded streets against soaring petroleum gas prices, forcing the Central Asian country's cabinet to resign, media reports said.
The government had imposed an emergency in the wake of the widespread agitations, but protesters turned violent and stormed government buildings and captured police vehicles.
The government tried to give their demands including dismissing the cabinet and announcing the possible dissolution of Parliament, which would result in new elections, according to The New York Times.
The country's largest telecom company, Kazakhtelecom, shut off internet access on Wednesday, leading to a nationwide internet blackout.
After being shut down for over seven hours, the internet resumed operation on midnight, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday.
On Sunday, anger among the protesters filled to a new high as Kazakhs opposed the government lifting of price caps for LPG, which doubled the cost of fuel.