Kazakh President orders troops to fire without warning

Kazakhstan’s President says he has ordered security forces to “fire without warning” amid unrest across the country.

In an address to the nation President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also said “20,000 bandits” had attacked the main city of Almaty, the epicenter of protests sparked by a fuel price hike.

He blamed foreign-trained “terrorists.”

The interior ministry says 26 “armed criminals” and 18 security officers have been killed so far in the unrest.

In a televised address, Mr Tokayev dismissed calls to hold talks with protesters as “nonsense”, saying: “What kind of talks can we hold with criminals and murderers?”

“We had to deal with armed and well-prepared bandits, local as well as foreign. More precisely, with terrorists. So we have to destroy them, this will be done soon,” he said.

Source: Public Radio of Armenia