Police officers near the fire-damaged Akimat building in Almaty. File photoALMA-ATA, Jan 16The head of the Alma-Ata police department, Kanat Taimerdenov, said that on January 5, the security forces defending the building of the akimat (city hall) of the city did not use weapons when protecting it during the riots in order to avoid a large number of casualties. «Given the limited space and density of people in the akimat, police weapons was not used, as this could lead to large casualties. In this regard, the police were forced to retreat without using weapons,» he said, speaking on Sunday in a statement that was broadcast on television. The attackers looted the akimat and burned it down. «At the same time, police officers and cadets of the military school (who defended the building — ed.) were beaten, bullied, their special equipment and uniforms were taken away,» the head of the city police added. Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the first days of 2022 — residents of cities Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed the doubling of 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 throughout the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the country's Prosecutor General's Office, 4,578 people were injured as a result of the riots, 225 people were killed, including 19 security officials.In Alma-Ata, 149 civilians and 11 security officials were killed due to riots On the morning of January 5, Kazakh President 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. On Thursday, January 13, the successful completion of the CSTO mission was announced, now the peacekeepers are returning from Kazakhstan.
41 bodies were stolen from the morgues in Alma-Ata
