Kazakh officials say 225 people have been killed in clashes | Stories

Nineteen policemen were among those killed, according to the attorney general.

The killings in Kazakhstan began with peaceful protests over electricity prices and prompted the government to ask for help from a Russian-led militia that has killed 225 people, authorities have announced.

“At the time of the accident, the bodies of 225 people were taken to the morgue, of which 19 were police officers and soldiers,” Serik Shalabayev, the state attorney general, said on Saturday.

Some were “criminals who participated in the terrorist attacks”, Shalabayev added.

Unfortunately, civilians too are victims of terrorism.

Earlier, Kazakhstan acknowledged the death of less than 50 people, 26 “armed robbers” and 18 police officers in a battle that unleashed a series of deadly clashes between government forces.

A large number of 164 people who died on Telegraph television last week were quickly evacuated.

Asel Artakshinova, a spokeswoman for the health ministry, said more than 2,600 people went to the hospital, while 67 had serious problems.

Officials in Kazakhstan say violence and terrorists as well as international “terrorists” have disrupted protests that have sparked riots from the west to the country’s largest city, Almaty.

Russian troops disembark from a cargo plane after landing in Ivanovo after completing their mission in Kazakhstan [Russian Defence Ministry/AFP]

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Russian-backed army for help during the riots and left his former supervisor and successor Nursultan Nazarbayev to take over the National Security Council.

The troops of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a coalition of six former Soviet states, helped end the violence in Central Asia and began slowly withdrawing on Thursday.

Following complaints about the beatings and torture of those who were later arrested, Tokayev ordered police on Saturday to refrain from violence and told government officials to forgive people who did not commit serious crimes.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that all its anti-aircraft missiles had returned. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.