More than 160 dead in Kazakhstan and a further 1200 are missing. According to the latest reports, on Sunday to have died in several days of unrest in Kazakhstan and almost 6,000 have been arrested after riots in Central Asia’s largest country.
The energy-rich nation of 19 million people has been rocked by a week of upheaval, with a number of foreigners detained over the unrest.
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160 dead in Kazakhstan
A government-run information portal on Sunday said that 164 people had been killed in the riots, including 103 in the largest city Almaty, which saw some of the fiercest clashes between protesters and security forces.
The new figures — which have not been independently verified — would mark a drastic increase in the death toll.
Officials previously said 26 “armed criminals” had been killed and that 16 security officers had died.
Police beheaded and countless protesters dead as Kazakhstan revolt escalates
Live rounds fired
Using Live rounds on civilians is unusual, even for former soviet nations, but such is the desperation for the President to control the civil unrest.
The health ministry told Russian and Kazakh media that the information had been published in error, but there was no official denial of the previous information, nor was a new figure provided.
In total, 5,800 people have been detained for questioning, including “a substantial number of foreign nationals”, the presidency said in a statement Sunday, following a crisis meeting led by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
“The situation has stabilised in all regions of the country,” even if security forces were continuing “clean-up” operations, it added.
Fuel prices sparked the riots
Fuel price rises sparked the unrest that broke out a week ago in the country’s west, spreading quickly to large cities, including the economic hub Almaty, where riots erupted and police opened fire using live rounds.
The interior ministry, quoted Sunday by local media, put property damage at around 175 million euros ($199 million).
More than 100 businesses and banks were attacked and looted and more than 400 vehicles destroyed, said the ministry, according to media reports.
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