Kazakhs in crisis

Riots draw Russ. aid

Russia sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan on Thursday to help put down a violent uprising that has led to the deaths of scores of demonstrators and more than a dozen police officers.

The protesters, carrying clubs and shields, set a presidential residence and the mayor’s office on fire in Almaty, the country’s largest city.

Burned-out cars lined the streets in the worst unrest since Kazakhstan gained its independence from the Soviet Union three decades ago.

Security forces wrested control of Almaty’s airport from protesters Thursday.

Police said they killed dozens of rioters, and state television said 13 security officers had been murdered — including two who were found decapitated, according to reports. Another 353 protesters were injured

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev blamed the unrest on “terrorist bands,” called on a Russian-led military alliance for help and vowed that the rioters would be dealt with harshly.

“It is an undermining of the integrity of the state — and, most importantly, it is an attack on our citizens who are asking me . . . to help them urgently,” Tokayev said.

The Russian alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, said peacekeeping troops were sent into the republic.

By early Thursday, armored personnel carriers and troops were seen in Almaty’s main square and gunshots could be heard, Reuters reported.

However, other media reports said it was difficult to get a clear picture of the extent of the violence because Internet service in the country has either been down or spotty.

State of emergency

Tokayev has imposed a two-week nationwide state of emergency that bans large gatherings and establishes a curfew, and Almaty police spokesman Saltanat Azirbek urged people to remain at home while counterterrorism operations were proceeding.

The uprising began on New Year’s Day over an increase in fuel prices, but started to widen Wednesday as crowds took to the streets chanting slogans against former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Nazarbayev, 81, stepped down in 2019, but he and his family remain in key posts overseeing the security forces and still control much of the country’s political apparatus.

The protesters accuse Nazarbayev and his family of racking up a fortune from Kazakhstan’s mass reserves of oil and minerals.