Kazakhstan's former anti-terror chief arrested over protests

Karim Masimov headed the National Security Committee until he was removed this week. Credit: AP

Kazakhstan’s former counter-intelligence chief has been detained on charges of attempting to overthrow the government amid widespread unrest and violent protests.

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

Accoring to authorities, security forces have killed 26 demonstrators in this week’s demonstrations and 18 law-enforcement officers died.

More than 4,400 people have been arrested, says the Interior Ministry.

Kazakhstan soldiers patrol the streets after clashes in Almaty Credit: Vasily Krestyaninov/AP

The protests in the Central Asian nation have been the most widespread since Kazakhstan’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The unrest began in the country’s far west as protests against a sharp rise in prices for liquefied petroleum gas that is widely used as vehicle fuel, and spread to the country’s largest city, Almaty, where demonstrators seized and burned government buildings.

Internet across the country has been shut down, and two airports closed, including one in Almaty, the country’s largest city.

On Friday, the president said he has authorised law enforcement to open fire on what he called "terrorists" and shoot to kill.

The Kazakhstan government's tone is escalating as the president ordered the officers to 'open fire to kill without warning', ITV News Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo reports

In a televised address to the nation, Tokayev blamed the unrest on “militants” and said that he had authorised the use of lethal force against them. “I have given the order to law enforcement and the army to shoot to kill without warning,” Tokayev said. “Those who don’t surrender will be eliminated.”

Tokayev has vacillated between trying to appease the protesters, including accepting the resignation of his government, and promising harsh measures to quell the unrest.

In what was seen as one such measure, the president has called on a Russia-led military alliance for help.

The alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, includes the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and has started deploying troops to Kazakhstan for a peacekeeping mission.