A Russia-led security alliance of ex-Soviet states will send peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan, Armenia's prime minister said on Thursday, after the Kazakh president appealed for their help in quelling violent and deadly protests.
An unspecified number of peacekeepers will go to Kazakhstan for a limited period to deal with the situation after state buildings were torched and the Almaty international airport was seized, according to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Eight police and national guard troops were killed in the unrest on Tuesday and Wednesday, Russia's state-owned Sputnik agency quoted the Kazakh interior ministry as saying on Wednesday. Russian news agencies, quoting Kazakh media, later said two soldiers had been killed in what they described as an anti-terrorist operation at Almaty Airport.
Initially sparked by anger at a fuel price rise, the protests have quickly spread to include President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who retained significant power despite quitting in 2019 after a nearly three-decade rule.
Nazarbayev, 81, has been widely seen as the main political force in Nur-Sultan, the purpose-built capital that bears his name. His family is believed to control much of the economy, the largest in Central Asia. He has not been seen or heard from since the protests began.
The reputation for stability under Nazarbayev helped attract hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investment in its oil and metals industries.
A younger generation is demanding the liberalisation seen in other former satellite states of the Soviet Union. The protests are the worst in Kazakhstan, a country five times larger than France with a population of almost 19 million people - in over a decade.
To try and appease public anger, Tokayev sacked Nazarbayev as head of the powerful Security Council on Wednesday and took it over himself. He also appointed a new head of the State Security Committee, successor to the Soviet-era KGB, and removed Nazarbayev's nephew from the No. There is a 2 position on the committee.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that protests continued, with demonstrators taking control of the airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city. Interfax said that the airport had been cleared of protesters. The report was not confirmed by Reuters.
Earlier in the day, riot police used teargas and flash grenades against protesters in Almaty, but then appeared to withdraw.
In his second televised speech within hours, Tokayev said that he had appealed for help to the Collective Security Treaty Organization CSTO, a military alliance of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
He said foreign-trained terrorist gangs were taking over buildings, infrastructure and weapons, and had taken five aircraft, including foreign ones, at Almaty Airport.
It is an attack on the citizens who are asking me and it is an attack on the integrity of the state. Tokayev said they needed to help them urgently.
The residents of Almaty were attacked, destroyed, vandalised and were victims of attacks by terrorists, bandits. It is our duty to do so. We need to take all possible actions to protect our state. Russian news agencies quoted Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, as saying that security had been strengthened around key installations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which Russia uses for space launches.
A resident of Almaty who mingled with the protesters said most of those he met appeared to come from the city's impoverished outskirts or nearby villages.
The resident said that vodka was being distributed at the main square, and some people were discussing whether to go to the city bazaar or a wealthy area for possible looting.
There is anarchy in the street, he said.
Footage posted on the internet showed protesters chanting below a giant bronze statue of Nazarbayev strung with ropes in an attempt to pull it down. A woman who posted it said it was filmed in the eastern city of Taldykorgan.
Early on Wednesday, Reuters journalists had seen thousands of protesters moving towards Almaty City centre, while protesters in the city of Aqtobe gathered to shout: Old Man, go away! A video shows police using water cannon and stun grenades near the mayor's office.
States of emergency were declared in Nur-Sultan, Almaty, and westerly Mangistau province. The internet was shut down.
After accepting the Cabinet's resignation, Tokayev ordered acting ministers to reverse the fuel price rise, which doubled the cost of petroleum gas widely used for vehicles in Kazakhstan.
The Kremlin said it expected Kazakhstan, a close ally, to quickly resolve its internal problems, warning other countries against interfering. The White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Russian accusations that the United States had instigated the unrest were false.