President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan's authoritarian leader has ordered security forces to "fire without warning". He also said "20,000 bandits" had attacked the city of Almaty, the epicentre of protests sparked by a fuel price rise and blamed foreign-trained "terrorists".
Tokayev dismissed calls to hold talks with protesters as "nonsense", saying: "What kind of talks can we hold with criminals and murderers?" Tokayev gave "special thanks" to Putin for sending troops.
Unrest began when the cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - which many people in Kazakhstan use to fuel their cars - doubled. But protests been prompted as a result of long-simmering frustrations with the political and economic situation in the country. It has turned into a general protest against corruption, poverty and inequality.
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