{"id":1194740,"date":"2022-01-06T16:35:51","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T21:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1194740"},"modified":"2022-01-06T16:36:11","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T21:36:11","slug":"kazakhstan-chaos-reports-of-riots-beheadings-as-russia-sends-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kazakhstan-chaos-reports-of-riots-beheadings-as-russia-sends-troops\/","title":{"rendered":"Kazakhstan Chaos: Reports of Riots, Beheadings as Russia Sends Troops"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkazakhstan-chaos-reports-of-riots-beheadings-as-russia-sends-troops%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1194740&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/kazakhstan-protests-riot-police-block-street-prevent-demonstrators-protest-almaty-kazakhstan-640x335-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\"><span>Kazakhstan\u2019s fuel riots escalated dramatically on Wednesday, as dozens of police and protesters were killed in street battles across western Kazakhstan and Almaty, the nation\u2019s largest city. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Russian state media claimed one of the 12 law enforcement officers killed was beheaded. In response, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan on Thursday to restore order.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More chaotic footage from Kazakhstan seeping out on Telegram. This purportedly from Aktobe \u2013 car driving into a line of riot police. Don\u2019t know the original source unfortunately. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3BEKlZMKIs\">pic.twitter.com\/3BEKlZMKIs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shaunwalker7\/status\/1479066932158550017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Protests in Kazakhstan <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/kazakhstan-protests-fuel-prices-11641407060\"><span>began<\/span><\/a><span> after the government increased the price of fuel on January 1, doubling the price of fuel for vehicles. Kazakhstan is heavily reliant upon liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products such as butane and propane. The country is rich in oil, but exports most of its products because selling to foreign customers is more lucrative than servicing the domestic market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Outrage over these price hikes uncorked an explosive mix of other resentments, including allegations of corruption and political repression against the government headed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Tokayev became president in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-kazakhstan-election\/nazarbayevs-handpicked-successor-tokayev-elected-kazakh-president-idUSKCN1TB0JA\"><span>very questionable snap election<\/span><\/a><span> in 2019 and has faced challenges to the legitimacy of his administration ever since. He is the handpicked successor to Soviet strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled with an iron first for three decades and still retains enormous power behind the scenes at 81 years of age. Members of Nazarbayev\u2019s family also command a great deal of wealth and power in Kazakhstan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cUnder Nazarbayev and his successor, a small elite have amassed enormous wealth, while life for many ordinary Kazakhs is still hard-going, particularly in the resource-rich west of the country. Rare protests have been ruthlessly crushed, and the regime faces no real opposition in parliament,\u201d the <\/span><span>UK <\/span><i><span>Guardian<\/span><\/i> <span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jan\/04\/kazakhstan-president-declares-state-of-emergency-in-protest-hit-areas\">noted<\/a>&nbsp;Wednesday.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Protests grew increasingly larger, more energetic, and more disruptive each day this week. Government security forces shut down the Internet on Tuesday and deployed tear gas and stun grenades against protesters. Demonstrations continued despite a two-week curfew and a ban on mass gatherings.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters now storming the main government building in Kazakhstan\u2019s largest city Almaty. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lemKcpILL8\">pic.twitter.com\/lemKcpILL8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Patrick Reevell (@Reevellp) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reevellp\/status\/1478657476123889665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan until 1998, which explains why so many large government buildings are available for protesters to storm. The capital was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Nur-Sultan\"><span>moved<\/span><\/a><span> to Aqmola (\u201cwhite grave,\u201d an allusion to its formidable winter weather) which was quickly renamed Astana (literally, \u201ccapital\u201d). Astana was renamed again in 2019 to \u201cNur-Sultan\u201d to honor the outgoing dictator. It will most likely be renamed again, if the protesters get their way.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Tokayev gave a belligerent address on Tuesday night, railing against \u201cdestructive individuals who want to undermine the stability and unity of our society\u201d and stressing that \u201call calls to storm or attack government buildings are absolutely illegal.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Tokayev described the protesters as paid foot soldiers in a coup attempt organized by foreign powers, and vowed he would not relinquish power or flee the country. However, he said he was willing to meet with protest leaders to discuss their grievances.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>On Wednesday, the entire government except for President Tokayev resigned. Tokayev appointed a slate of acting ministers and ordered them to reverse the much-reviled gas price hike, but the crowds were not mollified. Protesters greeted the news by chanting \u201cOld man, go away!\u201d \u2013 by which they meant both Tokayev and his puppet master Nazarbayev.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere is complete anarchy in the street,\u201d a resident of Almaty remarked to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/commodities\/kazakhstan-government-resigns-after-violent-protests-over-fuel-price-2022-01-05\/\"><span>Reuters<\/span><\/a><span>, while watching a band of demonstrators pass around bottles of vodka and debate which buildings they wanted to loot next.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Kazakhstan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Kazakhstan<\/a>, thousands flocked to the streets to protest rising fuel prices &amp; a collapsing economy. Hours later, the Kazakh govt resigned. Take a look.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ys8UFkYr6M\">pic.twitter.com\/ys8UFkYr6M<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/steve_hanke\/status\/1478766820756639744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>On Thursday, the government <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/dozens-killed-in-kazakhstan-unrest-police-say\"><span>reported<\/span><\/a><span> 12 police killed in street battles and 353 injured. Russian news service Interfax <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/dozens-killed-in-kazakhstan-as-authorities-crack-down-on-unrest-11641462504\"><span>quoted<\/span><\/a><span> Kazakh state media claiming one of the slain police officers was beheaded. Another report said 13 officers were killed and two of them were beheaded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A police spokeswoman said \u201cdozens of attackers were liquidated\u201d while trying to force their way into government buildings in Almaty. At least a thousand other civilians were injured, about 400 of them severely enough to require hospitalization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Russian paratroopers <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.infobae.com\/america\/mundo\/2022\/01\/06\/que-ocurre-en-kazajistan-aumento-del-precio-del-gas-decapitados-y-los-paracaidistas-de-putin\/\"><span>entered Kazakhstan<\/span><\/a><span> on Wednesday and Thursday, along with troops from regional military alliance members Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, to restore order and protect government facilities.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Military in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Almaty?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Almaty<\/a> on the square in front of the city Hall. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lXUwhRro8V\">pic.twitter.com\/lXUwhRro8V<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NEXTA (@nexta_tv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nexta_tv\/status\/1479009030458777600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Local media said it was unclear if Russian troops participated in the clashes that left so many protesters dead and injured, but photos from Almaty <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rferl.org\/a\/kazakhstan-deadly-protests-russian-troops\/31642006.html\"><span>show<\/span><\/a><span> unidentified personnel in military battle dress firing their weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), an alliance dominated by Russia but currently presided over by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-59880166\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> its troops would remain in Kazakhstan for a limited time to \u201cstabilize and normalize the situation.\u201d Kazakh police advised Almaty residents to remain indoors while a large-scale \u201ccounter-terrorist\u201d operation was conducted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Human rights monitors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-59880166\">told<\/a> the <\/span><span>BBC<\/span><span> on Thursday it was disturbingly diff<\/span><span>icult for them to assess the situation in Kazakhstan because a \u201cnation-scale Internet blackout\u201d has been imposed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The BBC cited reports that some security officers appear to have sided with the protesters, raising the possibility of armed conflict. Many reports of security troops switching sides come from Nur-Sultan, which is currently under a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/kazakhstan-riots-protests-almaty-resignation-nursultan-nazarbayev\/\"><span>state of emergency<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/russia-sends-troops-into-kazakhstan-as-protests-turn-deadly\/\"><span>warned<\/span><\/a><span> other governments not to interfere in Kazakhstan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe view the recent events in a friendly country as an attempt to undermine the security and integrity of the state by force, using trained and organized armed formations, that is inspired from the outside,\u201d the Foreign Ministry said, echoing Tokayev\u2019s allegations of foreign powers masterminding a coup against him.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kazakhstan\u2019s fuel riots escalated dramatically on Wednesday, as dozens of police and protesters were killed in street battles across western Kazakhstan and Almaty, the nation\u2019s largest city. Russian state &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1194740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1194740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1194740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1194740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1194740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}