Unrest broke out in cities across Kazakhstan on Wednesday, as thousands angrily protested a sharp fuel price hike that sparked the resignation of the Central Asian country’s government.
A state of emergency has been declared in Kazakhstan’s capital Nursultan, its biggest city Almaty, and in other regions following tense demonstrations. In three cities, local administration officials came under attack, buildings were damaged and “stones, sticks, gas, pepper, and Molotov cocktails were used,” according to a statement by the Interior Ministry.
The protests were ignited when the government lifted price controls on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at the start of the year, Reuters reported. Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on the fuel because of its low cost. Prime Minister Askar Mamin resigned amid the protests, and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a meeting on “the evolving difficult socio-political and socio-economic situation in the country,” according to a statement published on the presidential website Wednesday.
Alikhan Smailov has been appointed acting prime minister, and members of the government will continue to serve until the formation of the new cabinet, the statement added. A local journalist told CNN that thousands of people were protesting outside the mayor’s office in Almaty on Wednesday. “More than 10,000 people at the city administration building, we call it the Akimat. They have encircled it,” Serikzhan Mauletbay, deputy editor in chief of Orda.kz, said. Mauletbay said stun grenades were used and there is “some kind of fire,” according to an Instagram live video he watched from the scene.
