MAR 28, 2024 JLM 79°F 04:15 PM 10:15 AM EST
Kazakh president fails to quell protests, 8 deaths reported

- Security personnel killed, injured in unrest around Kazakhstan
- Protesters set buildings alight in anger at ex-leader
- New Year's Day fuel price increase triggered demonstrations
- Nazarbayev had kept influence since stepping down in 2019

ALMATY, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Protests around Kazakhstan have killed eight security personnel and injured 317, a news agency said on Wednesday, as President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev failed to quell public outrage over the influence of his powerful predecessor.

Initially angered by a New Year's Day fuel price rise, protesters have stormed and torched state buildings and chanted against Nursultan Nazarbayev, who kept wide authority despite stepping down as president in 2019 after nearly three decades.

Tokayev sacked him as head of the national Security Council on Wednesday while his Cabinet also resigned.

Russia's state-owned Sputnik news agency quoted the Kazakh interior ministry as saying the police and national guard troops were killed and injured in several regions on Tuesday and Wednesday during Kazakhstan's worst unrest in over a decade.

Kazakhstan's reputation for stability under Nazarbayev helped attract hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investment in its oil and metals industries. But political analysts said a younger generation was demanding the liberalisation seen in other former Soviet states.

The protesters seized control of the airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. All flights to and from Almaty were cancelled.

A witness told Reuters he could see protesters removing benches along Almaty's main Astana square to build barricades.

Earlier, riot police used teargas and flash grenades against the protesters but then appeared to abandon some streets in Almaty.

Both the United States and Russia appealed for calm.

'COMPLETE ANARCHY'

A resident of Almaty who mingled with the protesters on Wednesday said most of those he met appeared to come from the city's impoverished outskirts or nearby villages and towns.

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