Thousands took to the streets in the largest city of Almaty, saying the price hike was unfair
Almaty:
Protesters gathered at the mayor’s office in Almaty, the largest city in former Soviet Kazakhstan, on Wednesday as unprecedented protests over a rise in energy prices spiraled out of control.
An AFP correspondent said police fired unconscious grenades and tear gas shells at a crowd of several thousand protesters, some of whom were armed with batons and shields confiscated from police, but did not stop the protesters from entering the building. .
More than 200 people were detained during protests across the Central Asian country following a New Year’s hike in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices, widely used to fuel cars in the country’s west. are used, police said on Wednesday morning.
Thousands took to the streets in the largest city of Almaty and the western province of Mangystau, saying the price hike was unjustified given the vast energy reserves of oil and gas exporter Kazakhstan.
AFP reporters in Almaty on Wednesday afternoon saw men dressed in police uniforms throwing their shields and helmets into heaps and hugging protesters. The men in police uniform declined to be interviewed.
“They have come to our side,” one woman shouted as she hugged a fellow protester.
The protests are the biggest threat ever to the regime established by Kazakhstan’s founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down in 2019 and replaced loyalist Kasim-Jomart Tokayev to the presidency.
Nazarbayev, who is 81 years old and has ruled Kazakhstan since 1989, maintains control of the country as chairman of the Security Council and “leader of the nation”—a constitutional role that grants him unique policy-making privileges— It also provides immunity from prosecution.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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