Kazakh president gives ‘shoot to kill’ orders to quell anti-govt protests

China lauds strong measures to halt demonstrations as Germany, EU condemn violence

Picture source - AP

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday directed security forces to shoot without warning at protestors as part of a “counterterrorist” operation to quell unrest that has enveloped the country’s largest city, Almaty, in recent days.

According to Al-Jazeera, President Tokayev in a televised address said that demonstrators would be “destroyed” with force as security personnel were given orders to shoot and possibly kill without caution.

The protests were spurred by a surge in fuel prices and turned into a larger demonstration against the current government. Protests have been ongoing since about a week now and have resulted in amped up security measures across the country.

According to DW, 70 security checkpoints were also established to operate all day across Kazakhstan.

The protests had turned bloody following President Tokayev’s firing of his government on Wednesday to divert the protests. He also sacked his strong forerunner, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had been engaged in a law enforcement responsibility after resigning as president.

The address followed the president’s announcement earlier the same day that 26 “armed criminals” were killed, while 18 others were injured in clashes between protestors and Kazakh forces. The authorities also revealed that 3,000 were arrested as per a local Kazakh broadcaster that was quoted by the DW.

In his remarks, the president stated that the governmental order had been returned to all areas of the state and local administrators were in control of the situation.

He accused internationally trained extremists for the chaos without offering any proof, stating that the crackdowns would carry on till the terrorists were totally wiped out.

On Thursday, Kazakh officials reported that 18 members of the security forces had died in the clashes while one was beheaded.

Russia also reportedly assisted Kazakhstan to stop the protests as President Tokayev requested the neighbouring country for assistance. According to media reports, Russian ‘peace-keeping forces’ called the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) arrived in the country on Thursday. The CSTO grouping consists of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Belarus.

The international force allegedly delivered approximately 2,500 troops to Almaty. The CSTO stated that they would remain in Almaty for many days or more, according to Russian media.

Global players offered mixed responses to the violence in Kazakhstan according to international media reports.

Germany denounced Tokayev’s use of force against protestors, while European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron unanimously called for an end to the unrest in the Central Asian country.

Moreover, former Kazakh government minister Mukhtar Ablyazov, who currently lives in Paris, told Reuters that the West’s intervention was necessary to counter Russia’s influence in the region.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping lauded President Tokayev’s measures to quash the protests and restore peace. President Jinping, as per Chinese state media, said that the Kazakh president handled the situation “highly [responsibly]”.