Bakytzhan Sagintayev. Archival photo NUR-SULTAN, January 9 Acting akim (mayor) of Kazakhstani Alma-Ata Bakytzhan Sagintayev said that during the unrest in the country, unidentified persons opened fire on the cars in which he, his colleagues and employees of the Almaty TV channel were, reports orda.kz. The driver of the «Almaty» TV channel was killed in the cars, several people were injured, including the officials of the akimat — the heads of the sports department Rustam Baiseitov and the religious department Nurlan Kikimov. And about. The mayor also added that for some time unknown persons continued to chase. When we went down (avenue — ed.) Nazarbayev down and we had to turn left from the side of the state museum and at the U-turn, gunfire went from the bushes in full. Unfortunately, the driver of the «Almaty» TV channel was killed, there are some wounded among my colleagues . My driver was also injured, «Sagintayev told the newspaper. Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the first days of 2022 — residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed a twofold increase in prices for liquefied gas. Later, the protests spread to other cities, including Alma-Ata, the old capital and the largest city of the republic: looting began there, militants attacked state institutions, took away weapons. In response, the authorities declared a state of emergency across the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the UN, about 1,000 people were injured during the protests in Kazakhstan. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, 16 security officials were killed. On the morning of January 5, Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev dismissed the government and headed the Security Council. At the first meeting of the Security Council under his leadership, Tokayev described the situation in Kazakhstan as undermining the integrity of the state and said that he had asked the CSTO for help «in overcoming the terrorist threat.» The CSTO Collective Security Council decided to send collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation in the country. On January 7, Tokayev announced that terrorists, including those who arrived from abroad, continued to resist, and promised to destroy those who did not lay down their arms. In addition, the President noted that all the demands of citizens, expressed in peaceful forms, were heard. More than one hundred people
