Almaty, Kazakhstan
Uprising suppressed: Kazakhstan was engulfed in violence last week after protests over a doubling in the price of fuel were hijacked by criminal groups who raided banks, attacked police, and set government buildings on fire. The country’s chief city, Almaty, turned into a war zone as President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered police to shoot to kill, calling all the protesters “terrorists.” Tokayev lacks total control over the military, much of which is still loyal to Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled the former Soviet republic for nearly three decades before appointing Tokayev as his successor in 2019 and who still wields power behind the scenes. So Tokayev called on troops from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led regional alliance, to help quash the unrest. More than 160 people were killed in the mayhem, including three children and 16 police, and some 10,000 people were arrested.
When calm was restored, Tokayev blamed the uprising partly on Nazarbayev, who he said had bequeathed him a country rife with cronyism and extreme income inequality. Some analysts said the violence was sparked by infighting between the president and officials close to Nazarbayev, who feared they were losing their grip on power. It is unclear whether Nazarbayev has fled abroad. Tokayev said he would soon reveal “additional evidence” that the unrest was a coup attempt by foreigners who sent armed Islamic extremists to attempt to topple him. He added that the CSTO would begin withdrawing troops this week.