Kazakhstan leader gives ‘kill without warning’ order, as bodies lie in the streets

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has ordered security forces to “kill without warning” to crush the violent protests that have paralyzed the former Soviet republic and reportedly left dozens dead.

In a defiant public address Friday, Tokayev claimed the unrest, which began earlier this week as protests against rising fuel prices, had been masterminded by well-trained “terrorist bandits” from both inside and outside the country.

Kazakh state media reported Friday 18 security personnel and 26 “armed criminals” had been killed in violent protests.

More than 3,800 people have been detained so far, Kazakh state media reported Friday, citing the country’s Internal Affairs Ministry. More than 100 people were arrested while carrying out “terrorist actions,” the state media added.

In Almaty, the country’s largest city, several dead bodies riddled with bullets lay in the streets and the air was repeatedly filled with gunfire, according to a journalist in the area.

An internet outage has knocked out ATM machines and at least one gun store appeared to have been ransacked, said the journalist, whom CNN has agreed not to name over fears for their safety.

Kazakhstan is in turmoil and regional troops have been sent to quell unrest. Here’s what you need to know

Tokayev said the situation had “stabilized” in Almaty, and that the “introduction of a state of emergency is yielding results.”

“But terrorists continue to damage state and private property and use weapons against citizens,” he said. “I gave the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to open fire to kill without warning.”

Tokayev doubled down on that rhetoric on Twitter later, writing 20,000 “gangsters and terrorists” were involved in at least “six waves of attacks” in Almaty this week and added: “No talks with the terrorists, we must kill them.”

The government has control over the center of Almaty near the president’s residence and mayor’s office, and three large military checkpoints have been set up, the journalist told CNN. If anyone goes near the checkpoints, military forces shoot into the air. It is not clear whether they are shooting live or rubber rounds, the journalist said.

Tokayev’s speech attempted to undermine the narrative that the demonstrations were a product of popular unrest that turned increasingly destructive and deadly. He said the violence was the product of a well-organized enemy, armed with sleeper cells carrying out “terrorist attacks” and “specialists trained in ideological sabotage, skillfully using disinformation or ‘fakes’ and capable of manipulating people’s moods.”

“Their actions showed the presence of a clear plan of attacks on military, administrative and social facilities in almost all areas, coherent coordination of actions, high combat readiness and bestial cruelty,” Tokayev said. “They need to be destroyed.”

However, several protesters who spoke to international media rejected that characterization.

“We are neither thugs nor terrorists,” one woman said. “The only thing flourishing here is corruption”

Another man told CNN that people “want the truth,” adding: “The government is rich, but all of these people here have loans to pay. We have our pain, and we want to share it.”