Bloodied Protests in Kazakhstan Continue

Popular protests in the western part of Kazakhstan have now costed the lives of at least 12 persons, and have left nearly 100 others injured.

Kazakh authorities have employed riot police and the army to crush discontent citizens, in a train of events that is highly unusual for the peaceful nation.

Protests in Kazakhstan's oil-producing Mangistau region on the Caspian Sea, have spread on Sunday to regional capital Aktau, where 500 protesters faced soldiers in the shivering cold, writes the Guardian.

People in Aktau have been worrying that the number of casualties might be higher than reported, as the local blood transfusion center has been allegedly operating in a 24-hour regime.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled the vast country since the Soviet era, declared a 20-day state of emergency on Saturday in the nearby oil city of Zhanaozen, after at least 11 people were killed in violence that first broke out on Friday.

Then protesters, including fired oil workers, smashed equipment of the ruling party, as well as municipal buildings in Zhanaozen, and the headquarters of an oil company.

Security forces have claimed that the violent clashes have been provoked by rioteers themselves, while citizens have said that the soldiers are out to kill.

The people who have walked out include former employees of oil companies, who are protesting against what they see as an irresponsible attitude on the part of Kazakh authorities to their fate.

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