The presidential residence in Kazakhstan’s largest city was engulfed in flames on Wednesday as unrest sparked by a rise in fuel prices escalated sharply.
Armed protesters also reportedly stormed another government building in Almaty, despite harsh measures to quell the trouble.
Kazakhstan’s president has dismissed the government and declared a state of emergency. News sites became inaccessible, and the country is said to be experiencing an internet blackout.
But Russia’s Tass news agency reported that the presidential residence in Almaty, where thousands of demonstrators had gathered outside, was on fire.
The city’s main administration building was burning from top to bottom hours after demonstrators broke in — many of them carrying clubs and shields according to earlier reports in Kazakh media.
Police have again used stun grenades, water cannon, and tear gas against protesters on Wednesday. Demonstrations have also been reported in about a dozen other cities.
In a televised statement to the nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said lawbreakers would be treated with “maximum severity”.
The protests were sparked by a near-doubling of prices after the government abandoned price controls, despite Kazakhstan’s extensive gas and oil reserves and mineral wealth.
But the size and rapid spread of the unrest suggest wider discontent. There is anger over poor living conditions in some areas, as well as 30 years under the rule of the same party since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Protests spread across the country
Days of demonstrations began in cities in the west before spreading across the country in recent days.
On Tuesday night, police used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse a large demonstration in the economic capital Almaty.
Some protesters — some of whom attacked vehicles — could be heard chanting anti-government slogans such as “Government resign!” and “The old man out!”
The words refer to former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who remains very influential as the mentor of current leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The interior ministry reported that more than 200 protesters were arrested for “violations of public order” and 95 police officers were injured.
The protesters “indulged in provocations” by blocking roads and traffic and “disturbing public order”, the ministry said in a statement.
‘We don’t need conflict’
Kazakhstan’s government had initially tried to calm protesters by reducing the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 50 tenges (€0.1) per liter, compared with 120 at the start of the year.
This represented a significant increase in a country where the minimum wage is 42,500 tenge (€98.7) a month, but that strategy didn’t stop the protests.
Following the government’s dismissal, Deputy prime minister Alikhan Smailov will assume the role of interim prime minister until a new cabinet is formed.
A state of emergency has also been declared until 19 January in the regions of Mangystau, where the protests started, and Almaty, where a night-time curfew will be in force.
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Imagine thousands of angry Borat’s. Yikes!