Nur-Sultan, Jan 9: About 300 people were detained in Kazakhstan while attempting to cross the country’s border, Kazakh Interior Minister Yerlan Turgumbayev said on Sunday.
“When trying to cross the state border, about 300 people were detained who tried to leave the country by car and on foot. Firearms, stolen items, including cell phones and large sums of money, both in domestic and foreign currencies, were seized from them,” Turgumbayev said, as quoted by the operational headquarters on Sunday.
According to the Interior Ministry, the number of people detained during the mass unrest in Kazakhstan this past week has surpassed 5,100.
“As of now, 5,135 people have been detained throughout Kazakhstan,” the ministry said in a statement.
A wave of protests swept across Kazakhstan earlier this week, following a sharp rise in gas prices. Despite the government’s attempts to quell the discontent and promises to bring the prices down, violence erupted in Kazakhstan and there have been wide-spread clashes with law enforcement officers in several regions.
The government declared a state of emergency until January 19. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked for the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) assistance in resolving the issue and CSTO peacekeepers were sent into Kazakhstan. A counter-terrorism operation continues.
Tokayev said on Friday that the government had reached a compromise with peaceful protesters on urgent social and economic issues and that he was going to announce specific measures on Tuesday.
(UNI)
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