BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 6
Trend:
The administrative buildings and the Almaty police department were attacked in Kazakhstan last night, official representative of the Almaty police department Saltanat Azirbek said on Jan. 6, Trend reports citing TASS.
“Dozens of attackers have been neutralized and these individuals are being identified,” Azirbek said. “The extremist forces made an attempt to enter the administrative buildings, the police department of Almaty city, as well as district administrations and police departments last night.”
Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.
Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.
After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance. Following the development of the situation, the government declared a state of emergency all over the country.