Protesters stormed the mayor's office in Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty on Wednesday as unprecedented unrest in the Central Asian nation spun out of control.
Protests swept across Kazakhstan in a rare challenge to the ex-Soviet country's authoritarian government after a New Year energy price increase.
After a night of unrest that saw more than 200 people detained, several thousand protesters stormed the Almaty City Administration headquarters on Wednesday afternoon and appeared to have taken control of the building.
An AFP correspondent said that police fired stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd, some armed with batons and shields seized from police, but were unable to prevent them from entering the building.
Some parts of the building were on fire and protesters were targeting other government facilities, according to local media.
The protests are the biggest threat to the regime established by Kazakhstan founder Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down in 2019 and ushered loyalist Kassym-Jomart Tokayev into the presidency.
The demonstrations began over a New Year's increase in the prices for Liquid Petroleum Gas LPG, which is widely used to fuel cars in the west of the country.
Thousands took to the streets in Almaty and the western province of Mangystau, saying the price rise was unfair given Kazakhstan's vast energy reserves.
Clashes erupted overnight in Almaty, with police firing stun grenades and tear gas into a crowd of more than 5,000 people who marched through central streets shouting anti-government slogans and sometimes attacking vehicles.
The interior ministry said 95 police officers were injured, adding that protesters were afflicted by the provocations and groups of citizens blocked roads and blocked traffic, disrupting public order. Tokayev moved quickly to get rid of the unrest and accepted the resignation of the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Askar Mamin.
From Jan. 5 to 19 he also imposed states of emergency in Almaty, the capital Nur-Sultan and Mangystau province.
There will be a curfew in the areas from 11: 00 pm to 7: 00 am, with restrictions on movement in and out.
Protests in the capital were smaller and sporadic, but an order was published on the presidential website said that the state of emergency was necessary in connection with a serious and immediate threat to the safety of citizens. Tokayev had called for a return to calm in a video posted on Facebook.
The government won't be felled, but we don't need conflict, Tokayev said in the address.
The protesters in Almaty yelled old man out - reference to Tokayev's still-powerful predecessor Nazarbayev - and government resign before police moved in, sparking battles with demonstrators.
Tokayev was handpicked as a successor by Nazarbayev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
One of five ex-Soviet nations in Central Asia, Kazakhstan is of crucial importance to Russia as an economic partner and home to a large ethnic Russian population.
Its government tolerates little opposition and has been accused of silencing independent voices and media.
Spontaneous protests are illegal despite a law passed in 2020 that loosened some restrictions on freedom of assembly.
Limits were imposed on the internet on Wednesday, with WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram all being unaffected. Two independent media websites that reported on the protests appeared to be blocked.
Smaller rallies had been held in cities throughout the republic of 19 million people from Sunday, beginning with the city of Zhanaozen in Mangystau.
The initial cause of the unrest was a spike in prices for LPG in hydrocarbon-rich Mangystau, but a government move to lower the prices in line with protesters demands didn't calm them.
Independent media reports suggested that Tokayev s announcement of a new price of 50 tenge $0.11 per liter, down from 120 at the beginning of the year, did not hurt the rallies in Zhanaozen and Mangystau s capital Aktau as demonstrators aired new demands.
Thousands of protesters encircled by police were shown on social media Tuesday by footage from Aktau, who had camped overnight in the city centre.
Most had dispersed from the city center by Wednesday, according to state broadcaster Khabar.
In 2011, at least 14 striking oil workers were killed in Zhanaozen after police crushed a protest over pay and working conditions, the deadliest unrest since the republic gained independence in 1991.
Nazarbayev, who is 81 and had ruled Kazakhstan since 1989, retains control over the country as chairman of the Security Council and Leader of the Nation, a constitutional role that gives him unique policy-making privileges as well as immunity from prosecution.