West News Wire: Authorities in Kazakhstan reported Thursday that dozens of demonstrators were killed in attacks on government facilities, and at least a dozen cops died, including one who was discovered beheaded.
Attempts to storm buildings in Almaty were made overnight, and “dozens of assailants were exterminated,” according to police spokesperson Saltanat Azirbek. She talked on Khabar 24, a state run news station. The claimed efforts to storm the buildings followed severe turmoil in the city on Wednesday, which included the seizure and subsequent burning of the mayor’s office.
In addition to the 12 policemen killed, state news station Khabar 24 quoted the city commandant’s office as reporting that another 353 officers were injured.
Kazakhstan is experiencing the worst street protests the country has seen since gaining independence three decades ago. Government buildings have been set ablaze.
A Russia-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, said early Thursday that it would send peacekeeper troops to Kazakhstan at the request of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Kazakhstan has been rocked by intensifying protests that began on Sunday over a sharp rise in prices for liquefied petroleum gas fuel. The protests began in the country’s west but spread to Almaty and the capital Nur-Sultan.
