Snipers Among Almaty Protesters: New Details

Snipers were present among the protesters in Almaty. This was stated by the First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan, Dauren Abayev, during a broadcast on the "Khbar 24" television channel.

According to him, the assailants operated professionally, primarily seizing and destroying the administrative buildings of the city of Almaty, and they made several attempts to go live on central television. An assault was carried out on the police department building. The attackers deployed snipers using special rifles. The government representative pointed out that law enforcement officers were targeted by the assailants.

“At least one case of beheading of a young cadet is known. Currently, it is known that 18 police officers have been killed,” said Abayev. He suggested that during the unrest, the assailants may have used their own connections, as they rapidly seized the airport, several airplanes, and set up barricades and checkpoints in all seized locations, patrolling to control all approaches and exits. Movement through the city was conducted along optimal routes.

According to Abayev, the protests were initially peaceful, but later armed robbers and terrorists took control of the crowd.

In Kazakhstan, law enforcement has detained more than 3,000 participants in the unrest during special operations, and 26 armed criminals were eliminated.