The Kazakh interior ministry said in a separate statement that 26 "armed criminals" had been "liquidated," using a term commonly used to describe the killing of people the government labels as terrorists, and more than 3,000 of them detained, while 18 police and national guard servicemen had been killed since the start of the protests.
"An anti-terrorist operation has been launched. The forces of law and order are working hard. Constitutional order has largely been restored in all regions of the country," Tokayev said.
"Local authorities are in control of the situation. But terrorists are still using weapons and damaging the property of citizens. Therefore, counter-terrorist actions should be continued until the militants are completely eliminated," he added.
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