Protests in Kazakhstan that first broke out on January 2 after a sharp hike in prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are intensifying. On January 5, a government building was set ablaze, and military vehicles moved into downtown Almaty.
In Photos: Fiery Protests Continue Across Kazakhstan
- By RFE/RL
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Demonstrators ride a truck in Almaty on January 5. One of the men is carrying a stick, another holds what appears to be a riot policeman's shield.
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A line of Kazakh security forces in front of a government building in Almaty on January 5.
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A building housing an Almaty office of Nur Otan, Kazakhstan's ruling political party, burns on January 5. It is not know how the fire started. RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports that the building was left to smolder, with no policemen or fire trucks seen nearby when this photo was taken.
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A police vehicle with its window smashed, seen in Almaty on January 5.
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Police form a wall of shields in Almaty on January 5.
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A military vehicle in central Almaty on January 5.
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A man addresses a protest outside the mayor's office in Aqtau on January 5.
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The price board at a gas station seen in Nur-Sultan on January 5. The issue of gas prices for liquefied petroleum gas is a critical issue for many Kazakhs as most cars in the west of the Central Asian country run on this fuel.
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A policeman inside a damaged vehicle in Almaty on January 5.
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Demonstrators link arms in Almaty on January 5.
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A Kazakh riot policeman aims a weapon at protesters from a barricade in Almaty.
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A protest rally in the city of Oral in western Kazakhstan on January 5.
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Blood seen on Almaty's central Republic Square on January 5.
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Demonstrators walk along Almaty's central Rayimbek Avenue on January 5.
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A row of armored vehicles on Almaty's Republic Square on January 5.
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Law enforcement officers guarding a government building in the early morning of January 5. In a video address to the nation on January 4, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said the government would not fall and called for “mutual trust and dialogue rather than conflict."
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Protesters attack a police van in Almaty as protests turned violent overnight on January 4-5. Police vehicles were set ablaze, and multiple arrests made.
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Kazakh police in Almaty on the night of January 4-5. On January 5, Kazakhstan's government resigned. Current members of the government will continue their duties until a new administration is formed.
