International Desk,
Photo: BBC
The government has finally ordered the protesters to fire “just in time” to control the anti-government protests that have been going on for the past five days. A government order on Friday said there was no need to warn army members before firing.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in a statement that “the protests are now in the hands of foreign-backed terrorists.” At least 20,000 robbers have been breaking into Almaty for the past few days.
Protests against the rise in LPG prices began on Sunday (January 2nd) in several cities, large and small, including Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan. But as time went on, it gradually turned into a violent political conflict.
The BBC reports on Friday that 44 people have been killed so far in the last five days of protests in Central Asia’s largest and most energy-rich country. Among them are 27 protesters, whom the Kazakh government has described as “armed terrorists” and the remaining 16 as security forces.
Last Saturday, the first day of the new year, the price of fuel in Kazakhstan more than doubled in one leap. Protests in the town of Manjistau began on the same day in protest of the government’s decision. The protests quickly spread to other parts of the country. Gradually it took the form of mass revolt. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest.
Many people in Kazakhstan drive LPG. Driving on LPG was cheaper than gasoline because the government has kept prices under control for so long. Protests started after the government increased the price of LPG. Which at one stage became violent.
