Kazakh authorities have detained the former head of the National Security Committee, Karim Masimov, and other officials on suspicion of “treason,” the Security Committee said Saturday, without further details.
Security forces appeared to have regained control of the streets of Almaty, the main city in Kazakhstan, on Friday, after days of violence.
The country’s president, who is backed by Russia, said he had ordered his troops to shoot dead to quell an uprising across Kazakhstan.
In a televised speech, Qasim-Jomart Tokayev said on Friday that he had allowed law enforcement forces to open fire on “terrorists” and shoot to kill, in a decision that came after days of extremely violent protests in the former Soviet republic.
Tokayev blamed the unrest on “terrorists” and “militants”, and said he had authorized the use of lethal force against them.
He said, “Whoever refuses to surrender will be liquidated.”
Tokayev also sharply criticized some other countries’ calls for talks with the protesters, calling them “nonsense”.
“What negotiations can be made with criminals and murderers?” he said.
On Friday, the Kazakh Interior Ministry said that 26 protesters were killed during the unrest, 18 were injured, and more than 3,000 people were arrested. A total of 18 law enforcement personnel were also reported killed, and more than 700 injured.
Kazakhstan has seen the worst street protests since the country gained independence three decades ago.
The demonstrations started over a doubling in the price of a type of vehicle fuel, and quickly spread across the country, reflecting broader discontent with the party’s own rule since independence.