Saturday 15 January 2022
Number of injured doubled
Kazakhstan revises death toll upwards
After the severe and violent unrest in Kazakhstan, troops sent from several countries are in retreat. According to the authorities, the number of victims increased to 225. Almost 4,600 people were injured.
After the bloody unrest in the authoritarian former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, the authorities have increased their figures on the number of dead and injured significantly. A total of 225 people were killed in the riots in the metropolis of Almaty and in other parts of the country. This was announced by the Prosecutor General’s Office in the capital Nur-Sultan. Among those killed were 206 citizens and 19 security forces.
On January 9, more than 160 dead were initially mentioned. The number of injured was now given as almost 4,600 – more than twice as many as on Sunday a week ago. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had previously instructed the authorities to determine the exact number of dead and injured.
The situation in the oil- and gas-rich country had stabilized in recent days as a result of a Russian-led military operation by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Troops from Belarus, Armenia and the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been relocated to their countries since Thursday. The operation should be completed by next Wednesday.
Around 20,000 participants in protests
The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko thanked the “peacekeepers” for a successful mission in Kazakhstan. He also said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision on the CSTO mission in the first week of January within an hour.
In the country on the border with China, which has been internationally praised for its stability for many years, there were protests at the beginning of the month against a doubling of the price of gas, which is used to fuel cars. The demonstrations turned into brute force after a few days.
Head of state Tokayev spoke of an attack by “terrorist gangs”. He had given the order to shoot. More than 20,000 people are said to have taken part in the protests, and more than 10,000 were arrested. The ninth largest country in the world has around 18 million inhabitants.