Broken shop windows in Almaty. File photoALMA-ATA, Jan 14 Law enforcement agencies in Almaty are searching for seven people who disappeared during the days of riots in the city, according to the local police department.
"Since January 4, 22 people have been officially listed as missing. They were officially reported to the police. Of these, 15 people were found. The whereabouts of the remaining 7 people are being established. In all cases, search cases have been opened, operational search activities are being carried out", — writes with reference to the Alma-Ata police Telegram channel "Almaty tragedy", created in Kazakhstan to disseminate official information.
The police department advised to apply for citizens missing in the city to the police departments of the districts at the place of residence or areas where the missing person was last seen. Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the early days of 2022 — residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed LPG prices. 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 throughout the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the UN, during the protests in Kazakhstan, about 1,000 people were injured. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, 17 Kazakh security officials were killed, more than 1.3 thousand were injured. Kassym-Jomart 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 for help from the CSTO «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 the terrorists, including those who had 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. about a thousand policemen