London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Kazakh president authorizes use of lethal force against protesters 'without warning'

Kazakh president authorizes use of lethal force against protesters 'without warning'

The head of state rules out any negotiations with those he calls “terrorists”
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced on Friday that he has given permission for law enforcement agents to use lethal force to quell the unrest that has engulfed the country since the new year.

“I have given an order to the law enforcement and military to shoot to kill without warning,” Tokayev announced on Friday.

The president has rejected the idea of resolving the ongoing crisis through negotiations. “It’s nonsense. What kind of talks can one have with criminals and murderers?” he insisted.

Kazakhstan is facing “armed and well-trained militants, both local and foreign,” Tokayev said. Describing them as “bandits and terrorists,” he asserted that they should be “eliminated.”

The situation has mostly stabilized in Almaty, Aktobe, and elsewhere across the country, he said, but the security forces are continuing their “anti-terrorist operation,” as not all of the perpetrators have laid down their weapons.

The state of emergency will now be gradually lifted, according to the president. The internet, which had been switched off a few days ago, will be restored in some parts of the country, he promised, adding that its reinstatement would nonetheless not allow anyone to “freely post fabrications, slander, insults, and inflammatory appeals.”

Those who attacked the country acted in accordance with a well-designed plan, Tokayev said, targeting key military, administrative, and social facilities in almost all of the regions.

“Only in Almaty, there were 20,000 bandits,” he alleged. They were backed by propaganda experts who spread fake news online and manipulated the mood of the people, the president insisted.

He also thanked fellow member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan – for answering his call and deploying peacekeepers to help restore order in Kazakhstan. The CSTO mission would remain in the country “for a limited period of time” to support the local security forces, the president clarified.

Earlier on Friday, the Kazakh Interior Ministry said 26 armed assailants had been killed and 18 others injured during the recent outbreak of violence. More than 3,700 people have been detained. There were at least 18 fatalities among the military and police as of Thursday, reports outlined.

People took to the streets in Zhanaozen and Aktau on the first days of 2022 in response to a two-fold hike in the liquefied petroleum gas price, which had previously been subsidized by the government. Despite the authorities promising to keep the price under control, the protest swiftly spread to other cities, and turned increasingly violent.

Almaty, the largest city, has become the focus of the unrest, with demonstrators – some of whom were equipped with firearms – storming the mayor’s office, the old presidential palace, and the airport. Numerous businesses have been ransacked and looted, with police stations also being attacked.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×