The health ministry of Kazakhstan said Sunday that 164 people have been killed in protests that have rocked the country over the past week.
The figures reported on the state news channel Khabar 24 are a significant rise from previous tallies. It is not clear if the deaths relate only to civilians or if law-enforcement deaths are included. Kazakh authorities said earlier yesterday that 16 police or national guard had been killed. Previously, the civilian death toll was 26.
Most of the deaths were in Almaty, the country's largest city, where demonstrators seized government buildings and set some ablaze, according to the ministry. Three of the killed were minors, including a 4 year-old girl, according to the country's ombudswoman for children's rights.
More than 2,200 people were treated for injuries from the protests and more than 1,300 security officers were injured, according to the ministry.
The office of Kazakhstan s president said that about 5,800 people were detained by police during the protests that developed into violence last week and prompted a Russia-led military alliance to send troops to the country.
The president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's office said on Sunday that order has been stabilized in the country and that authorities have regained control of administrative buildings that were occupied by protesters, some of which were set on fire.
Russian TV station Mir- 24 said that sporadic gunfire was heard in Almaty on Sunday but it was not clear whether they were warning shots by law enforcement. Tokayev said on Friday he had authorized the military and police to shoot to kill to restore order.
Almaty s Airport, which had been taken by protesters last week, was closed but is expected to resume operations on Monday.
Protests over a rise in LPG fuel prices began in the country west on January 2 and spread throughout the country, apparently reflecting discontent extending beyond fuel prices.
Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the same party has ruled Kazakhstan. Despite Kazakhstan's enormous reserves of oil, natural gas, uranium and minerals, any figures attempting to oppose the government have been either repressed, sidelined or co-opted.
Tokayev contends that the demonstrations were ignited by terrorists with foreign backing, although the protests have shown no obvious leaders or organizations. The statement from his office on Sunday said the detentions included a sizable number of foreign nationals, but gave no details.
It wasn't clear how many of those detained remained in custody on Sunday.
The former head of Kazakhstan's counterintelligence and anti-terror agency was arrested on charges of attempted government overthrow. The arrest of Karim Masimov was announced Saturday, just days after he was removed by Tokayev as head of the National Security Committee.
Masimov was alleged to have done that would constitute an attempted government overthrow, but no details was given. The National Security Committee, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, is responsible for counterintelligence, border guards service and anti-terror activities.
Security forces killed 26 demonstrators in the week of unrest, and 16 law-enforcement officers died, according to authorities.
At Tokayev's request, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian military alliance of six former Soviet states, authorized sending about 2,500 Russian troops to Kazakhstan as peacekeepers.
Some of the force is guarding government facilities in the capital, Nur-Sultan, which made it possible to release part of the forces of Kazakhstani law enforcement agencies and redeploy them to Almaty to participate in the counter-terrorist operation, according to a statement from Tokayev's office.
In a sign that the demonstrations were more deeply rooted than just the fuel price rise, many demonstrators shouted Old Man out, a reference to Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was president of Kazakhstan's independence until he resigned in 2019 and anointed Tokayev as his successor.
Nazarbayev had a lot of power as head of the National Security Council. Tokayev replaced him as the council head amid the unrest this week. It's possible to make a concession to mollify protesters. According to KazTag, Nazarbayev's adviser Aido Ukibay said on Sunday that it was done at Nazarbayev's initiative.