Rioters Reportedly Wanted to Seize Swords of Huns and Sakas From Almaty Museum

According to the museum's deputy head, she managed to persuade rioters to leave without taking anything.

Rioters attempted to storm the Central State Kazakh Museum in Almaty and seize swords and spikes that once belonged to Huns and Sakas, Khabar 24 TV channel reported.

Since the museum is located not far from the city administration where the riots had started, the museum's employees decided to spend a night inside the building to prevent looters from damaging the museum's collection.

"We closed the doors and watched CCTV cameras when at about 4 am a crowd approached the museum. I did not know what to do. Then they broke the door, and a group of 6-7 people entered, while about 200 more rioters stood at the entrance. I do not remember exactly what I was telling them but I tried to convince them not to touch anything because it is our common history which we can't afford to lose," the deputy head of the museum, Bibigul Dandygarayeva said, quoted by the channel.

She believes that "spirits of ancestors and ancient warriors" helped her to persuade the rioters to leave peacefully.

In early January, mass protests in Kazakhstan began over a rise in prices for liquefied natural gas. People took to the streets in several Kazakh cities, where some of the protesters clashed with the police. According to the Kazakh authorities, "militants" and "terrorists" tried to use the protests to organise a coup. Dozens of people on both sides are reported to have been killed as a result of the clashes but the exact death toll has yet to be confirmed. A nationwide state of emergency is in place in Kazakhstan until 19 January.