Aktobe where armed people attacked gun shops and a military base is put on red alert. A counter-terror operation regime is imposed in the whole region.
Meanwhile, the Kazakh healthcare ministry has made public reports on victims of the attacks. According to the minister, Tamara Duysenova, “38 people have been treated in hospital, two died, 15 people received first medical aid and were sent home. 20 people were hospitalized, 14 of them underwent surgery, three are undergoing surgery now, 9 persons are in critical condition.”
At a government’s meeting in Astana, she said that flying doctor service flew to Aktobe. “The situation is fully under our control,” she said.
Official reports call the attackers “a group of religious extremists.” Within the night, law enforcers killed five more attackers and detained two of them. The Interior Ministry says most of the arms stolen were withdrawn, all those involved in the attacks are known to the police. The situation in Aktobe normalized, companies and municipal transport are operating normally.
At the same time, a group of top officials was reportedly arrested in Astana on the charge of plotting a coup d’etat. There have been no reports on connection between the attempt of coup d’etat and the events in Aktobe.
The National Security Committee of Kazakhstan arrested a well-known businessman, director of Shymkentpivo company Tokhtar Tuleshov under the allegation of plotting a coup. According to the National Security Committee representative Ruslan Karasyov, the investigation has data that Tuleshov had been preparing, and since last year “was taking active steps to prepare for seizure of power.”
His plan included destabilization in the country by instigating hotspots, organizing riots, using which as a background he was planning to establish a so-called alternative government and restructure the current system of governance, Karasyov said. He also said that Tuleshov’s accomplices were detained too.
Experts say that Tuleshov’s arrest is connected with recent unrest caused by planned amendments to the Land Code.
As it has already been reported, official sources have not confirmed connection between those arrested in Astana and the bloody events in Aktobe. However, observers do not rule out that such reports may be made public soon.
On Sunday, a group of armed people attacked a military base and gun shops in Aktobe. Six people were killed, ten injured, including soldiers.
Later, four attackers were killed, seven detained, two of them injured. Five more gunmen were killed some time later, and two detained.
