Kazakh Interior Minister Turgumbayev: looters plundered more than 100 trade and bank facilities
Photo: Vasily Krestyaninov / RIA Novosti
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of Kazakhstan, Yerlan Turgumbayev, assessed the damage caused by the looters during the riots. It amounted to about $ 200 million, the minister said on the air of the Khabar 24 TV channel.
Turgumbayev said that the looters plundered more than 100 large trade facilities and banks, as well as damaged and destroyed more than 400 vehicles, including 346 vehicles of the internal affairs bodies. The damage from the riots has become multimillion-dollar: according to preliminary estimates, it amounted to more than 87 billion tenge, or about $ 200 million.
The Interior Minister added that the looters beat and mocked police officers and cadets of the military school.
“Special equipment and uniforms have been taken away. At the same time, armed criminals opened indiscriminate fire on the streets of the city, killing police officers, military personnel and ordinary citizens. They committed pogroms of shopping and entertainment centers, financial institutions, opening ATMs, ”he stressed.
Earlier, a “red” level of terrorist threat was introduced in the Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan. More than 90 people were detained in the region, seven police officers were injured, one was killed.
Mass protests, which escalated into riots, began in large cities of Kazakhstan due to the rise in prices for liquefied gas. Although the president of the countries, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, introduced state regulation of prices for fuel and food, citizens put forward political demands and did not abandon their opposition to the government. The head of Kazakhstan turned to the use of force to resolve the issue with the protesters.
