ALMATY, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s former intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of treason, the state security agency said on Saturday, January 8, as the former Soviet republic is roiled by its worst unrest in 30 years.

The detention of Karim Massimov was announced by the National Security Committee, which he headed until he was fired this week by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, as violent protests swept across the Central Asian nation.

Tokayev told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a “lengthy” phone call that the situation in the country was stabilising, the Kremlin said.

It said Putin backed a proposal from Tokayev on the call to convene a video conference of leaders from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), under whose umbrella Russia and four other former Soviet republics have sent troops into Kazakhstan to help restore order.

Dozens of people have died, thousands have been detained and public buildings across Kazakhstan have been torched over the past week in the worst violence experienced in the major oil and uranium producer since it became independent in the early 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed.

Tokayev has ordered his troops to shoot to kill to put an end to what he has called attacks by bandits and terrorists.

He said on Friday the state had “slept through” instigators’ preparations to launch attacks on the biggest city, Almaty, and across the country. The arrest of Massimov indicated that moves against those deemed responsible are underway.

Apart from heading the intelligence agency that replaced the Soviet-era KGB, Massimov is a two-time ex-prime minister who worked closely with former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country’s ruler for three decades until he turned over the presidency to Tokayev in 2019.

The demonstrations across the country began as a response to a fuel price hike but swelled into a broad movement against Tokayev’s Russian-backed government and 81-year-old Nazarbayev, whose family is widely believed to have retained influence in Nur-Sultan, the capital that bears his name.

East-West tensions

After several days of violence, security forces appeared to have reclaimed control of the streets of Kazakhstan’s main city Almaty on Friday.

Some businesses and petrol stations began to reopen on Saturday in the city of around 2 million people as security forces patrolled the streets. Occasional gunshots could still be heard around the city’s main square.

The deputy mayor of the city was quoted by Russia’s RIA news agency as saying operations to purge the city of “terrorists and bandit groups” were still underway and citizens were advised to stay at home.

The interior ministry said that more than 4,400 people had been detained since the start of the unrest. Tokayev announced that a national day of mourning would take place on Monday, January 10, to commemorate those killed in the unrest.

The deployment of the Russia-led CSTO military alliance in Kazakhstan at Tokayev’s invitation comes at a time of high tension in East-West relations as Russia and the United States gear up for talks next week on the Ukraine crisis.

Moscow has deployed large numbers of troops near its border with Ukraine, though denies American suggestions that it is planning to invade the country, saying it wants guarantees that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will halt its eastward expansion. – Rappler.com