Lagatar24 Desk
Almaty, Jan 10: Kazakhstan’s interior ministry announced Monday that over 7,500 individuals have been jailed following days of historic upheaval in the Central Asian country that left dozens dead.
“As of January 10; 7,939 people have been detained,” the interior ministry said in a statement noting that several branches of the security services had been involved in the detentions.
After the greatest rioting in the republic’s autonomous history, ex-Soviet Kazakhstan observed a day of national mourning on Monday.
The National Security Committee declared in a statement that security agencies have complete control of the country, including government and military installations.
“Areas where militants and rioters might be hiding are being cleared. Evidence of criminal activity is being collected and recorded,” the statement read.
Kazakhstan has described the violence as an attack by “terrorist groups,” and has criticised foreign media coverage of the events, which began with protests in the country’s west at the beginning of the month against a fuel price hike.
Following a request from Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Moscow-led CSTO military alliance dispatched a detachment of 2,500 troops to the country during the unrest.
On Monday, the leaders of the CSTO countries — a group of former Soviet republics — were scheduled to have a video conferencing, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
