In last week’s unrest, a total of 7,939 people has been detained by security forces in Kazakhstan as of Monday, the Interior Ministry said.
On Monday, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also characterised the unrest as a coup attempt. He vowed that his security services will never shoot peaceful protesters.
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“Armed militants, who were waiting in the wings, joined the protests. The main goal was obvious: the undermining of the constitutional order, the destruction of government institutions and the seizure of power. It was an attempted coup d’etat”, Tokayev said.
Tokayev added that security forces will “never fire” on peaceful protesters and that Moscow-led military mission in the country would also end “soon”.
This is the worst bout of unrest in the Central Asian nation’s history after getting separated from USSR.
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The protests against fuel price rise were peaceful initially but it soon turned violent. Some government buildings were briefly captured or torched in many cities.
Without naming any suspects, Secretary of State Yerlan Karin told state television on Monday, “I think there was some kind of a conspiracy involving domestic and certain foreign destructive forces.”
(With inputs from agencies)
