People Detained During Kazakh Fuel Protests

Kazakh police and collaborators in plain clothes detained men gathering in the streets of the city of Shymkent as protests against a fuel price increase continued on January 4. In the cities of Aqtobe and Oral, police tried to prevent demonstrators from marching in the streets. The crowd in Aqtobe chanted "Old man, go away!" in reference to the country's longtime leader, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who stepped down as president in 2019 but has retained influence. Protests have spread across Kazakhstan since January 2 after the prices of liquefied natural gas -- widely used as fuel for vehicles -- more than doubled.