THIS IS A CURRENT UPDATE. AP’s previous story follows below.

MOSCOW (AP) – The office of the President of Kazakhstan said on Sunday that around 5,800 people were arrested by police in protests that turned into violence last week and prompted a Russian-led military alliance to send troops in the country.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s office said on Sunday that order had stabilized in the country and authorities had regained control of administrative buildings that were occupied by protesters, some of which were set on fire.

Russian television station Mir-24 said sporadic gunshots were heard in Almaty, the country’s largest city on Sunday, but it was not clear whether these were warning shots from forces of order. Tokayev said on Friday he had allowed police and military to shoot to kill to restore order.

Almaty airport, which was taken over by protesters last week, remained closed but is expected to resume operations on Monday.

Protests against a sharp rise in LPG fuel prices began in the west of the country on January 2 and have spread across the country, apparently reflecting discontent extending beyond fuel prices.

The same party has ruled Kazakhstan since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. All the personalities aspiring to oppose the government have been either suppressed, dismissed or co-opted and financial difficulties are widespread despite the enormous reserves of oil and gas. natural, uranium and minerals.

Tokayev maintains that the protests were started by “terrorists” with foreign support, although the protests did not show any obvious leader or organization. His office statement on Sunday said the detentions included “a significant number of foreign nationals”, but gave no details.

It is not known how many people detained remained in detention on Sunday.

The former head of the Kazakhstan counter-intelligence and counterterrorism agency has been arrested for attempting to overthrow the government. Karim Masimov’s arrest, which was announced on Saturday, came just days after he was removed from his post as head of the National Security Committee by Tokayev.

No details were given of what Masimov allegedly did that would constitute an attempt to overthrow the government. The National Security Committee, successor to the Soviet-era KGB, is responsible for counterintelligence, border guard service and counterterrorism activities.

Authorities say security forces killed 26 protesters in this week’s unrest and 16 law enforcement officials have died.

At Tokayev’s request, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led military alliance made up of six former Soviet states, authorized the dispatch of around 2,500 mostly Russian troops to Kazakhstan in as peacekeepers.

Part of the force guards government facilities in the capital, Nur-Sultan, which “freed part of the Kazakh security forces and redeployed them to Almaty to participate in the anti-terrorism operation”, according to a statement from Tokayev’s office.

As a sign that the protests were more entrenched than the mere rise in fuel prices, many protesters shouted “Old Man Out”, a reference to Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had been president since independence from Kazakhstan until his resignation in 2019 and anointed Tokayev as his successor.

Nazarbayev retained substantial power as the head of the National Security Council. But Tokayev replaced him as head of the council amid this week’s unrest. possibly aiming at a concession to appease the protesters. However, Nazarbayev’s adviser Aido Ukibay said on Sunday that it was done at the initiative of Nazarbayev, according to the Kazakh news agency KazTag.