Video: Protesters Pull Down Statue of Kazakhstan's First President Nazarbayev in Almaty Region

The country has been engulfed in mass riots, as people took to the streets against fuel price hikes on 2 January in the western part of the country. The protests have spread across the country since then. In Almaty, unrest escalated into violent riots, with armed people clashing with police and attacking the mayor's office.

A video, purportedly showing the demolition of a monument to first Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the city of Taldykorgan emerged online on Friday. The clip shows a truck dragging the statue from its pedestal, while a crowd of protesters is shouting and cheering the driver on.

When the monument falls to the ground, people can be seen running to the statue and hitting it with sticks.

Reports suggest that after its collapse, the statue broke into two pieces.

Taldykorgan is located near the old capital city of Almaty, which has been experiencing violent riots over the past few days, with armed people attacking law enforcement and storming the mayor's office. According to authorities, several police officers were killed and over 200 injured during the clashes.

Addressing the crisis, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev requested assistance from Kazakhstan's allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). The bloc is sending peacekeeping forces to guard strategic objects in the country, while the Kazakh police and military are reinstating order in the nation's riot-hit cities.