Kazakhstan Government Claims Situation Favorable: Vital Facilities Secured By CSTO Troops, Police Detain 5,000 Rioters

Riot protests in Kazakhstan. (Wikimedia Commons/Esetok)

JAKARTA - Kazakh authorities say they have managed to control conditions in the country, with strategic facilities now under the protection of alliance forces and thousands of people being detained by police.

Kazakh law enforcement authorities have detained more than 5,000 people who took part in riots in several parts of the country, the press service of the Ministry of Home Affairs, as reported on Sunday.

"Currently, 5,135 people have been detained across Kazakhstan," the press service said, citing TASS Jan. 9.

According to the ministry, 125 pre-trial investigations have been launched into murder, violence against government officials, robbery, hooliganism, and theft.

In an interview with Khabar 24 TV, Kazakh Minister of Home Affairs Yerlan Turgumbayev said, during the riots, more than 400 vehicles were damaged and destroyed, including 346 police vehicles. The looters had looted more than 100 large trading facilities and banks.

Kazakh authorities said on Sunday they had stabilized the situation across the country, following the deadliest outbreak of violence in 30 years of independence, with troops from the Russian-led military alliance guarding the strategic facility.

Security and intelligence officials told President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev that they were continuing "clearance" actions in a massive counter-terrorism operation.

"A number of strategic facilities have been moved under the protection of a unified peacekeeping contingent of member states of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)," the presidential office said in a statement detailing the security briefing led by Tokayev.

"The situation has stabilized in all areas of the country," he continued, adding law enforcement agencies had regained control of administrative buildings and vital services had been restored.

To note, protests over rising fuel prices erupted in several cities of Kazakhstan on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings being searched in several cities a few days later.

President Tokayev himself declared January 10 a National Day of Mourning in the Republic of Kazakhstan.