The smell of burning, the pop of gunfire and a flood of rumors — surviving in Kazakhstan’s largest city during the unrest

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — For days the streets of Kazakhstan’s largest metropolis smelled of burned rubber tinged with the acrid stench of stun grenades. Inside their homes, radical huddled, fed by rumors successful an unnerving accusation vacuum from a chopped Internet and lone constricted mobile telephone work — each accompanied by the dependable popular of overnight gunfire.

On Monday afternoon, the Internet successful Almaty came backmost — astatine slightest for a small portion — arsenic the odor of burned vehicles dilatory dissipated. It was present that the astir convulsive clashes Kazakhstan’s sweeping anti-government protests took spot implicit the past week. Government officials said astatine slightest 164 radical died during the demonstrations — and 103 of those fatalities were successful Almaty.

Nearly 8,000 radical person been detained crossed the country, Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry said Monday.

Protests that started successful Kazakhstan’s occidental regions past play due to the fact that of a spike successful vigor prices morphed into a situation of erstwhile president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s authorities and spilled implicit into different parts of the country. Nazarbayev, the 81-year-old ex-president who ruled for 3 decades and maintained a “Father of the Nation” rubric that gave him sway down the scenes, has not been seen successful nationalist since the demonstrations started.

In comments Monday, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the events of the past week were an attempted coup d’etat and helium would soon contiguous impervious to the planetary community.

On Jan. 5, Tokayev called connected the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-led subject alliance, to send successful “peacekeeping” forces to assistance “stabilize” Kazakhstan. The astir 2,500 troops stay successful the state but are expected to soon depart, Tokayev said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the CSTO would not let destabilizing “color revolutions.”

Color revolutions notation to the fashionable uprisings successful Eastern Europe during the 2000s that Russian officials accidental were organized by the West to topple Moscow-aligned governments.

Tokayev and different officials successful Kazakhstan’s authorities person repeatedly portrayed those who participated successful the unrest arsenic trained “terrorists,” successful galore cases from abroad. It has not presented immoderate grounds to substantiate those claims.

Kazakh embassies emailed reporters from overseas quality organizations connected Monday greeting with statements from the Foreign Ministry branding the planetary sum of the situation arsenic “clearly superficial and one-sided.”

“Currently, the instrumentality enforcement agencies and equipped forces of Kazakhstan are confronting terrorists, not ‘peaceful protesters’ arsenic immoderate overseas media misrepresent it,” the ministry said successful the statement, claiming, without evidence, that the “the attackers see individuals who person subject combat portion acquisition successful the ranks of extremist Islamist groups.”

After the state declared a authorities of exigency Wednesday, overseas journalists were denied entranceway into Kazakhstan, and the Internet blackout further constricted the travel of information.

In Almaty, radical are mostly divided into 2 groups: those who praise the protesters for lasting up to the authorities and those telephone them “bandits” damaging the city. There remains disorder and speculation arsenic to however peaceful demonstrations escalated into unit — and if it was intentionally stoked by equipped militants who hijacked the uprising for unclear reasons.

“There are 2 protests successful Kazakhstan,” said Kassymkhan Kapparov, an activistic with the Oyan, Qazaqstan (Wake up, Kazakhstan) civilian rights group. “One was caused by a surge of terms for [liquefied petroleum gas] successful occidental Kazakhstan, which is simply a peaceful demonstration. And what we saw successful Almaty is an onslaught of equipped criminals connected the city. We person nary hint who are these people. Locals would ne'er bash specified atrocious things.”

During the unrest, Internet mightiness beryllium restored for 1 hr a time successful the superior of Nur-Sultan — precious clip to check-in with household members. In Almaty, adjacent those little windows didn’t exist, and citizens were encouraged to enactment location arsenic information forces conducted an “anti-terrorist operation” successful the streets. During a nationally televised code connected Friday, Tokayev issued a “shoot-to-kill” bid — though galore radical didn’t adjacent cognize astir it due to the fact that their location televisions depended connected Internet.

With nary entree to the extracurricular world, radical work books and played boardgames. Neighbors talked to each other. Phone calls wrong the state worked and that’s erstwhile the rumors were exchanged — immoderate arsenic utmost arsenic speech of overseas snipers targeting civilians connected the street.

A substance connection from the authorities told citizens that a fistful of quality websites were disposable contempt the Internet blockade, truthful radical checked those for updates. Still, it was unclear what accusation could beryllium trusted.

On Monday, immoderate radical had started to task retired of their homes into Almaty’s strangely deserted streets. Stores were closed for respective days past week, meaning getting adjacent basal nutrient supplies had been a challenge. The fewer that were unfastened had agelong lines — and items specified arsenic bread, eggs, atom and flour were each sold out. People relied connected leftovers from their New Year’s celebrations.

As the clashes died down and the odor of burning successful the metropolis dilatory drifted away, the signs of the unrest were inactive everywhere. A portion of the metropolis hallway gathering was acceptable ablaze. Stores and restaurants crossed the metropolis had breached windows. Some person been looted.

There is interest that the archetypal intent of the protests volition beryllium mislaid amid the demolition and consequent crackdown.

“I wanted the authorities to perceive us,” said Ulan Maratuly, a 23-year-old nutrient transportation courier who protested successful Almaty connected Jan. 4.

“The authorities look to person nary thought however we live, however we past with our tiny net arsenic prices get higher and higher,” helium said. “I enactment a batch each time and gain astir $300 per period spending each the wealth connected food. Where bash authorities discarded each the wealth coming from lipid exports? Why they don’t assistance radical similar me?”