Former anti-terror chief arrested over Kazakhstan protests

MOSCOW — The erstwhile caput of Kazakhstan’s counterintelligence and anti-terror bureau has been arrested connected charges of attempted authorities overthrow successful the aftermath of convulsive protests that the president has blamed connected foreign-backed terrorists.

The apprehension of Karim Masimov was announced Saturday by the National Security Committee, which Kasimov headed until helium was removed this week by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Authorities accidental information forces killed 26 demonstrators successful this week’s unrest and that 18 law-enforcement officers died. More than 4,400 radical person been arrested, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.

The protests successful the Central Asian federation were the astir wide since Kazakhstan’s independency from the Soviet Union successful 1991.

The unrest began successful the country’s acold westbound arsenic protests against a crisp emergence successful prices for liquefied petroleum state that is wide utilized arsenic conveyance fuel, and dispersed to the country’s largest city, Almaty, wherever demonstrators seized and burned authorities buildings.

At Tokayev’s request, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-led subject confederation of six erstwhile Soviet states, authorized sending astir 2,500 mostly Russian troops to Kazakhstan arsenic peacekeepers. Some of the unit is guarding authorities facilities successful the superior Nur-Sultan, which “made it imaginable to merchandise portion of the forces of Kazakhstani instrumentality enforcement agencies and redeploy them to Almaty to enactment successful the counter-terrorist operation,” said a connection from Tokayev’s office.

Tokayev said Friday that helium had authorized information forces to sprout to termination those participating successful unrest. On Saturday, determination were nary contiguous reports of unrest successful Almaty, but constabulary dispersed a objection and made detentions successful the metropolis of Aktau, portion sporadic gunfire was heard successful Kyzylorda, the Russian bureau Sputnik said.

No details were fixed astir what Masimov, the information bureau head, was alleged to person done that would represent an attempted authorities overthrow. The agency, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, is liable for counterintelligence, the borderline guards work and anti-terror activities.

Although the protests began arsenic denunciations of the near-doubling of LPG prices astatine the commencement of the year, their dispersed and aggravated unit bespeak they reflected wide dissatisfaction successful the state tally by the aforesaid enactment for much than 30 years.

Many demonstrators were shouting “old antheral out,” a notation to Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was president from independency until resigning successful 2019 and anointing Tokayev arsenic his successor. Nazarbayev, who was fixed the rubric Ebasy (leader of the nation), retained important powerfulness aft resignation arsenic caput of the National Security Council.

But Tokayev removed him arsenic assembly caput amid the unrest, perchance aiming astatine a concession to mollify protesters. Nazarbayev remained invisible during the chaos, but connected Saturday his spokesperson said Nazarbayev is successful the superior and “calls connected everyone to rally astir the President of Kazakhstan to flooded existent challenges and guarantee the integrity of our country.”