Russia rushes troops as Kazakh city burns

Fresh violence raged in Kazakhstan’s main city on Thursday after Russia rushed in paratroopers overnight to put down a countrywide uprising over rising fuel prices in the former Soviet state closely allied to Moscow.

Budget carrier flydubai cancelled its flights to Kazakhstan’s main city Almaty and said it’s monitoring the situation. However, flights to capital Nur-Sultan are operating as scheduled.

Police in Almaty said they had killed dozens of rioters overnight. State television said at least 18 members of the security forces had died, including two found decapitated. The interior ministry said 2,000 people had been arrested.

After a night of running confrontations between protesters and troops on the streets, a presidential residence in the city and its mayor’s office were both ablaze, and burnt out cars littered the city, journalists said. Military personnel regained control of the main airport, seized earlier by protesters. But Thursday evening saw renewed battles in Almaty’s main square, occupied alternately by troops and hundreds of protesters throughout much of the day.

“It is an undermining of the integrity of the state and most importantly it is an attack on our citizens who are asking me... to help them urgently,” he said.