News > How the crisis in Kazakhstan went from fuel protests to a ‘shoot-to- kill’ order by the president

How the crisis in Kazakhstan went from fuel protests to a ‘shoot-to- kill’ order by the president

Security forces appeared to have reclaimed the streets of Kazakhstan's main city on Friday after days of violence, and the Russian-backed president said he had ordered his troops to shoot to kill to put down a countrywide uprising.

A day after Moscow sent paratroopers to help crush the insurrection, police were patrolling the debris-strewn streets of Almaty, although some gunfire could still be heard. Dozens have died and public buildings across Kazakhstan have been ransacked and torched in the worst violence the former Soviet republic has experienced in 30 years of independence.