Nur-Sultan
\nKazakhstan\u2019s former intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of treason, the state security agency said on Saturday, as the former Soviet republic cracks down on a wave of unrest and starts to assign blame.
\nThe detention of Karim Massimov was announced by the National Security Committee which he headed until he was fired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday after violent protests swept across the Central Asian nation.
\nTokayev\u2019s office said he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call that the situation was stabilising.
\n\u201cAt the same time, hotbeds of terrorist attacks persist. Therefore, the fight against terrorism will continue with full determination,\u201d it quoted him as saying. The Kremlin said Putin backed Tokayev\u2019s idea to convene a video call 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. It was not clear when this would take place.
\nDozens of people have been killed, thousands have been detained and public buildings across Kazakhstan have been torched over the past week in the worst violence experienced in the 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 end what he has called attacks by bandits and terrorists.
\nHe said on Friday the state had \u201cslept through\u201d instigators\u2019 preparations to launch attacks on the biggest city, Almaty, and across the country. Massimov\u2019s arrest indicated moves were under way against those deemed responsible.
\nApart from heading the intelligence agency that replaced the Soviet-era KGB, Massimov was twice prime minister and worked closely with former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country\u2019s ruler for three decades until he turned over the presidency to Tokayev in 2019.
\nThere were no details of the treason allegations. The security service said other officials were also detained, but did not name them.
\nOn Friday, a pro-government politician said on television he had information that the security forces had been ordered to abandon Almaty airport so protesters could take it over. He said they had left a security building in the city undefended, enabling people to seize weapons.
\nIt was not immediately possible to verify this account. The airport remains closed but is now under the control of Kazakh security personnel and Russian troops, according to Russia\u2019s defence ministry.
\nThe demonstrations began as a response to a fuel price hike but swelled into a broad movement against Tokayev\u2019s Russian-backed government and 81-year-old Nazarbayev.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nur-Sultan Kazakhstan\u2019s former intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of treason, the state security agency said on Saturday, as the former Soviet republic cracks down on a wave of unrest and starts to assign blame. The detention of Karim Massimov was announced by the National Security Committee which he headed until he was fired […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-237849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n