Note by Kazakhstan's Mission to UN: No Protests Can Justify Attacks, Killings of Police Officers

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The President of the UN Security Council sent an information note by the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations about the situation in the Central Asian country, a source at the United Nations told Sputnik.

"The President of the UN Security Council sent an information note to the Council’s member states from the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations about the ongoing situation in the country and measures taken by the authorities to stabilize it," the source told Sputnik.

The document stresses that any protests or demonstrations can not justify attacks and killings of law enforcement officers.

"Attacks against governmental buildings, airports, vital infrastructure and gun stores are indicative of the planned nature of the conspirators’ actions," the note by the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations said.

This comes as protests have continued on Thursday in the Kazakh cities of Almaty and Aktau. In Almaty, gunshots and loud blasts were heard, according to local media.

At least 13 law enforcement officers have been killed and 353 injured in the mayhem, two of those killed were beheaded, state broadcaster Khabar 24 said.

Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the early days of 2022. Residents of Zhanaozen and Aktau opposed a two-fold increase in prices for liquefied petroleum gas, then protests spread to other cities, resulting in violent clashes with the police, looting and vandalism. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency until January 19 and invited CSTO peacekeeping forces to help bring the situation under control.

At present, peacekeeping contingents from Russia and Belarus have arrived in Kazakhstan to protect strategic infrastructure facilities, including the Baikonur cosmodrome. According to the CSTO Secretary General, the peacekeeping force is comprised of 2,500 troops on the ground and this number may increase if necessary.

The CSTO Secretariat stated on Wednesday that the appeal received from Kazakhstan said that the situation in the country was regarded as an invasion of gangs trained from abroad.