Report: Kazakh President’s house on fire as protests escalate | Government and politics

Riot police run to block protesters during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and held protests in about a dozen other cities in the country.

Protesters drive a truck during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling of liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and held protests in about a dozen other cities across the country.

Riot police are blocking a street to prevent protesters during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and protested in about a dozen other cities in the country.

Riot police block protesters during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday Jan. 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and held protests in about a dozen other cities in the country .

Protesters, one of which is holding police ammunition, gather during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling of liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, killing about one Dozen other cities in the country.

Protesters stand in front of a police line during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied petroleum gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and have entered the country in about a dozen other cities.

Riot police run to block protesters during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and held protests in about a dozen other cities in the country.

A riot police stands ready to stop protesters during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and held protests in about a dozen other cities in the country.

Protesters with the national flag of Kazakhstan march during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday Jan. 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and have seen police in about a dozen other cities in the region protested land.

A police officer carries tear gas grenades during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and have moved into about a dozen other cities in the country .

Smoke rises from the town hall during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday January 5, 2022. News outlets in Kazakhstan report that protesters protesting rising fuel prices broke into the mayor’s office in the country’s largest city and saw flames coming from within. The Kazakh news website Zakon said that many of the protesters who gathered in front of the building in Almaty on Wednesday were wearing clubs and shields.

A man takes a photo of windows of a police kiosk damaged by protesters during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling of liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and held protests in about a dozen other cities in the country.

Police arrest a protester during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and stopped in about a dozen other cities across the country on Tuesday.

A protester carries a police sign in front of a police line during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters protesting rising fuel prices broke into the mayor’s office in Kazakhstan’s largest city on Wednesday and flames were seen inside. according to local news reports. Many of the demonstrators who gathered in front of the building in Almaty were wearing clubs and shields, the Kazakh news website Zakon said.

A protester tries to dismantle a surveillance camera on a pole during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling of liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and have seen police in about a dozen other cities in the country.

A protester returns a sign to a riot police during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday Jan. 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling of liquefied gas prices have clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and have seen police in about a dozen other cities in the country.

Police arrest a protester during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Protesters denouncing the doubling in liquefied gas prices clashed with police in Kazakhstan’s largest city and stopped in about a dozen other cities across the country on Tuesday.

By JIM HEINTZ – Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) – The presidential residence in Kazakhstan’s largest city went up in flames on Wednesday and armed demonstrators stormed another government building, according to media reports, when the demonstrations, which were triggered by rising fuel prices, escalated sharply.

In response to the protests, the government resigned and the president promised to take tough measures to quell the unrest. Kazakh news sites went inaccessible late in the day and global surveillance organization Netblocks said the country was experiencing a ubiquitous internet blackout.

But the Russian news agency Tass reported from Kazakhstan that the presidential residence in Almaty, where thousands of demonstrators had gathered outside, was on fire and that the city’s main administrative building with the mayor’s office burned from top to bottom hours after the demonstrators broke in.

Many of the demonstrators approaching the mayor’s office were wearing clubs and shields, according to previous reports by Kazakh media.

Protests began on Sunday in Zhanaozen, a western city where resentment was strong against the government following an oil workers’ strike in 2011 in which police killed at least 15 people. In the days that followed, they spread across the country and large demonstrations broke out on Tuesday in the capital Nur-Sultan and Almaty, the country’s largest city and former capital.