Kazakhstan leader gives 'kill without warning' order, as bodies lie in the streets

In a defiant public address Friday, Tokayev claimed the unrest, which began earlier this week as protests against rising fuel prices, had been masterminded by well-trained "terrorist bandits" from both inside and outside the country.

Kazakh state media reported Friday that 18 security personnel and 26 "armed criminals" had been killed in violent protests. More than 3,000 people have been detained.

In Almaty, the country's largest city, several dead bodies riddled with bullets lay in the streets and the air was repeatedly filled with gunfire, according to a journalist in the area.

An internet outage has knocked out ATM machines and at least one gun store appeared to have been ransacked, said the journalist, whom CNN has agreed not to name over fears for their safety.

Tokayev said the situation had "stabilized" in Almaty, and that the "introduction of a state of emergency is yielding results."

"But terrorists continue to damage state and private property and use weapons against citizens," he said. "I gave the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to open fire to kill without warning."

The government ​has control over the center of Almaty near the president's residence and mayor's office, and three large military checkpoints have been set up, the journalist told CNN. If anyone goes near the checkpoints, military forces shoot into the air. It is not clear whether they are shooting live or rubber rounds, the journalist said.

Tokayev's speech attempted to undermine the narrative that the demonstrations were a product of popular unrest that turned increasingly destructive and deadly. He said the violence was the product of a well-organized enemy, armed with sleeper cells carrying out "terrorist attacks" and "specialists trained in ideological sabotage, skillfully using disinformation or 'fakes' and capable of manipulating people's moods."

"Their actions showed the presence of a clear plan of attacks on military, administrative and social facilities in almost all areas, coherent coordination of actions, high combat readiness and bestial cruelty," Tokayev said. "They need to be destroyed."

However, several protesters who spoke to international media rejected that characterization.

"We are neither thugs nor terrorists," one woman said. "The only thing flourishing here is corruption"

Another man told CNN that people "want the truth," adding: "The government is rich, but all of these people here have loans to pay. We have our pain, and we want to share it."

The demonstrations are the biggest challenge yet to the autocrat's rule, with initial public anger over a rise in fuel prices expanding to wider discontent with the government over corruption, living standards, poverty and unemployment in the oil-rich nation -- all of which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, experts say.

"This is a government that is highly detached from the reality of what happens on the ground. It's a country where there are no institutions through which to protest; the only route is on the streets," Paul Stronski of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told CNN.

Protesters in Almaty reportedly stormed the airport, forcibly entered government buildings, and set fire to the city's main administration office, local media reported. Dozens were reported killed and hundreds more injured in clashes there Thursday. There were also reports of a nationwide internet blackout and damage in other major cities, though Tokayev said internet was gradually being restored as the situation stabilizes. Authorities had previously declared a nationwide state of emergency with a curfew and movement restrictions until January 19, according to local media.

Almaty International Airport will be closed until January 9, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan said, according to state-run broadcaster Khabar 24. More than 20 international flights have so far been canceled.

READ MORE: CNN