More than 160 people have been killed and more than 6,000 detained in clashes in Kazakhstan

Struggles within Kazakhstan They killed 164 people and injured about 2,000. In addition, on Sunday, the 9th, authorities announced the arrest of nearly 6,000 people in connection with the bloody riots that rocked Central Asia’s largest country throughout the week. An independent source could not confirm the number, but 103 deaths were reported in the economic capital, Almaty, according to various newspapers, citing the Ministry of Health (calling them “armed criminals”) and 16 members of the security forces.

On Sunday afternoon, the report disappeared from the government channel Telegraph, And the Ministry of Health claimed that the information was leaked to the Kazakh and Russian media. However, they did not falsify that information and did not provide new numbers. In total, about 5,800 people have been detained, “many of them foreigners”, in 125 different interrogations, without providing further details, the Kazakh Presidency said in a statement. Despite security forces continuing to “clean up” operations, “the situation has improved across the country,” the source added after a crisis meeting convened by President Qasim Jomar Tokayev.

Kazakhstan, with a population of 19 million, rich in hydrocarbons, has been rocked by unprecedented protests, the largest since independence in 1989, in which dozens died. Protests in the provinces began on Sunday the 2nd due to the rise in gas prices. It then spread to major cities, including Almaty, where police fired live bullets at protesters. The damage to property was estimated at about 175 million euros (BRL 1.1 billion), according to the Kazakh Interior Ministry, cited by local newspapers on Sunday.

More than 100 companies and banks were looted and about 400 vehicles were destroyed. Almaty has returned to calm in recent days, but police fired shots into the air to prevent its citizens from approaching the city’s central square, the report said Saturday. As a sign of a return to a terrifying nature, 30 supermarkets reopened. On Sunday, according to newspapers, people were worried about the shortage. The local airport, which was scheduled to reopen on Monday the 10th, will remain closed “until the situation improves”.

* With information from AFP