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ALMA-ATA, Jan 13 About 660 people are involved in clearing the building of the Akimat (Mayor's Office) of Alma-Ata that burned down during the riots on January 5, the work is carried out in compliance with safety measures, the press service of the city administration said. 660 people, cleaning will be completed soon. Damaged furniture, office equipment, garbage will be collected and taken to landfills for disposal. the adjacent territory is prohibited for safety reasons. «The restoration work will begin immediately after the clearing,» the press release says. 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 a two-fold 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, 17 Kazakhstani security officials were killed, more than 1.3 thousand were injured. 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.