Kazakhstan's leader Tokayev vows to rebuild Almaty after deadly clashes

Dozens have died since unrest began with protests over fuel price rise

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visits a police operations centre in Almaty on Wednesday. EPA

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Almaty on Wednesday for the first time since clashes there left dozens dead and vowed to repair damage to Kazakhstan's largest city and financial hub.

“The task now is to rebuild the city in the shortest possible time,” he told a government meeting, according to a statement released by his office. “I have no doubt the city will be restored.”

The visit came on the eve of the start of the announced withdrawal of a Russian-led military contingent of more than 2,000 troops that were sent to help restore order after peaceful protests gave way to violence and looting last week.

Dozens have died in the unrest that began with peaceful protests over an energy price rise. Hundreds of people were injured and police said they arrested more than 10,000 people.

“Tomorrow begins the organised withdrawal of the peacekeeping contingent” of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the alliance led by Moscow, said Mr Tokayev.

Almaty showed further signs of a return to normal life on Wednesday, with many more people out on the streets than last week and most restaurants and shops open.

AFP correspondents saw helicopters flying overhead as Mr Tokayev met officials in the city, where municipal services were cleaning up broken glass from shop windows smashed by looters.

Mr Tokayev said Russian and allied forces “played a very important role in terms of stabilising the situation in the country".

“Without a doubt, it was of great psychological importance in repelling the aggression of terrorists and bandits. The mission can be considered very successful,” he said.

Police block a street leading to the official presidential residence in Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan, after protests against the government. Reuters

Protesters gather in a square outside an administration office in Aktau, capital of the resource-rich Mangistau region in Kazakhstan. AFP

A burnt-out digger destroyed in protests triggered by fuel price increases, in Kazakhstan's trading and cultural hub Almaty. Reuters

A man stands in front of the mayor's office building that was torched during protests in Almaty. Police there have reported killing dozens of rioters since Wednesday. Reuters

Burnt-out cars in central Almaty. Authorities said at least 18 members of the security forces have been killed in the violence in the city. AFP

A fire truck destroyed in the protests, in front of the presidential residence in Almaty. Reuters

A man walks past a car that was overturned and destroyed during the protests in Almaty. Reuters

Smoke billows from the Kazakhstan state TV channel building, which was torched during protests in Almaty. Reuters

Russian military vehicles wait to be loaded on to military aircraft at an airfield outside Moscow, to fly to Kazakhstan. They are part of an alliance of former Soviet states being sent to control the uprising. AP

Russian military vehicles wait to be loaded on to a military cargo plane Chkalovsky airbase, outside Moscow, as part of a force heading to Kazakhstan. AFP

A Russian military plane with Belarusian troops on board waits to take off from an airfield outside Minsk, Belarus, to fly to Kazakhstan. AP

Russian paratroopers board a military plane at Chkalovsky airbase, headed for Kazakhstan. AFP

In a meeting with CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas, Mr Tokayev said the mission had “once again confirmed the value of the organisation itself as a military-political structure” while raising its international status.

“The effectiveness of the organisation has manifested itself quite clearly in this situation,” he said.

Mr Zas was quoted by Mr Tokayev's office as briefing the meeting “on the beginning of the withdrawal from our country of the contingents of the member states of the organisation within the time frame indicated by the head of Kazakhstan".

Mr Tokayev also spoke with relatives of law enforcement officers killed in the riots and visited injured people in hospital.

Almaty airport, closed since last week after being ransacked, will open on Thursday for national and international flights, according to the Kazakhstan Civil Aviation Committee.

While authorities have described the violence as the work of foreign “terrorists”, it erupted on the back of peaceful demonstrations over a rise in fuel prices and against a background of deteriorating living standards and endemic corruption.

The crisis also exposed rifts at the top of the national leadership, with Mr Tokayev on Tuesday signalling a split with his mentor and predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, who ruled Kazakhstan for a quarter of a century but has not been seen in public since the end of last year.

Karim Masimov, a top Nazarbayev ally, who before the crisis served as national security chief, has been arrested on treason charges linked to the unrest.