Forces can shoot to kill to quell unrest: Kazakh president
Moscow, Jan 7: Kazakhstan's president authorised security forces on Friday to shoot to kill those participating in unrest, opening the door for a dramatic escalation in a crackdown on anti-government protests that have turned violent.
The Central Asian nation this week experienced its worst street protests since gaining independence from the Soviet Union three decades ago, and dozens have been killed in the tumult.
The demonstrations began over a near-doubling of prices for a type of vehicle fuel but quickly spread across the country, reflecting wider discontent with authoritarian rule.
In a televised address to the nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used harsh rhetoric, referring to those involved in the turmoil as terrorists, bandits and militants though it was unclear what led the peaceful protests to first gather steam and then descend into violence. No protest leaders have emerged so far.
I have given the order to law enforcement and the army to shoot to kill without warning, Tokayev said.
Those who don't surrender will be eliminated.
Concerns grew in recent days that an even broader crackdown might be coming, as internet and cellphone service was severely disrupted and sometimes totally blocked, and several airports closed making it difficult to understand what was happening inside the country and for images of the unrest to reach the outside world.
Adding to those fears was Tokayev's request for help from a Russia-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, whose troops began arriving Thursday.
On Friday, Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry reported that security forces have killed 26 protesters during the unrest, which escalated sharply on Wednesday.
Another 26 were wounded and more than 3,800 people have been detained. A total of 18 law enforcement officers were reported killed, and over 700 injured.
The numbers could not be independently verified, and it was not clear if more people may have died in the melee as the protests turned extremely violent, with people storming government buildings and setting them ablaze.
More skirmishes in Almaty were reported on Friday morning. Russia's state news agency Tass reported that the building occupied by the Kazakh branch of the Mir broadcaster, funded by several former Soviet states, was on fire.
But in other parts of the country life started to return to normal. On Friday morning, news reports said the internet was partially restored in the capital, Nur-Sultan, but it remained unclear for how long.
The Almaty airport stormed and seized earlier by the protesters was back under the control of Kazakh law enforcement and CTSO forces, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen.
Igor Konashenkov said. But the facility will remain shut at least until Sunday, the Kazakh TV channel Khabar 24 reported, citing the airport's spokespeople.
Hours before he authorized the use of lethal force against those participating in unrest, Tokayev indicated that some measure of calm had been restored, saying local authorities are in control of the situation.
Tokayev has vacillated between trying to mollify the protesters including issuing a 180-day price cap on vehicle fuel and a moratorium on utility rate increases and promising harsh measures to quell the unrest.
As he vowed a tougher response, he called on the CSTO alliance for help. A total of 2,500 troops have arrived so far, all of them in Almaty, Kazakh media reported, citing foreign ministry officials.
Kazakh officials have insisted that troops from the alliance, which includes several former Soviet republics, will not be fighting the demonstrators, and instead will guard government institutions.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the foreign troops deployed thus far were involved in suppressing the unrest.
The involvement of CSTO forces is an indication that Kazakhstan's neighbors, particularly Russia, are concerned the turmoil could spread.
In his address to the nation, Tokayev repeated his allegations that foreign actors along with independent media helped incite the turmoil.
He offered no evidence for those claims, but such rhetoric has often been used by former Soviet nations, most prominently Russia and Belarus, which sought to suppress mass anti-government demonstrations in recent years.
Kazakhstan, which spans a territory the size of Western Europe, borders Russia and China and sits atop colossal reserves of oil, natural gas, uranium and precious metals that make it strategically and economically important and the crisis sparked concern in many quarters.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said she was following the developments with a great worry, while French president Emmanuel Macron called for de-escalation.
In Germany, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said officials were looking into the reports of Tokayev's shooting order.
From Germany's point of view, it must be said very clearly that a use of lethal force, of live ammunition against civilians can only be a very last resort, particularly if military forces are deployed.
But China appeared to step up its support for Kazakhstan's government on Friday.
Kazakhstan is a critical component in China's Belt and Road overland connection to Europe and persistent unrest in the country could upend Beijing's hopes for closer trade and political relations with the continent.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences to Tokayev over the large-scale riot, praising him for having decisively taken strong measures at critical moments and quickly calming down the situation.
As a fraternal neighbour and a long-term strategic partner, China is willing to provide necessary support within its means to Kazakhstan to help it get over this difficult period, Xi said.
Despite Kazakhstan's vast resource wealth, discontent over poor living conditions is strong in some parts of the country.
Many Kazakhs also chafe at the dominance of the ruling party, which holds more than 80% of the seats in parliament.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
IndiGo CEO makes sudden departure after December turbulence, international expansion
New Delhi (PTI): On a warm afternoon on January 28, a confident Petrus Johannes Theodorus Elbers, better known as Pieter Elbers, explained the journey of IndiGo with his innate enthusiasm.
This was also his first in-person media interaction after flight disruptions in December last year.
Three days of disruptions cannot define the 20 years of IndiGo, a slightly agitated Elbers told media persons in response to repeated queries related to the flight cancellations, including about the duration of the cancellations, in December.
Little over 40 days after that interaction, Elbers, a Dutch national who enjoyed and shared pictures of his participation in local Indian festivals and wearing local attire, abruptly resigned from the airline as the Chief Executive Officer on Tuesday.
Before joining IndiGo on September 6, 2022, Elbers was the President & Chief Executive Officer of KLM for eight years. He was with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for 30 years in various roles.
Under his stewardship, IndiGo significantly expanded its international operations, started operations with leased wide-body Boeing 787-9 aircraft, placed orders for 60 wide-body A350-900 planes and remained profitable.
Also, IndiGo, which currently has a domestic market share of 63.6 per cent, hosted the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in the national capital in June last year. The meeting happened in India for the first time after 42 years.
While Elbers' stint as CEO was progressing well, the unprecedented operational disruptions at IndiGo, always proud of its On Time Performance (OTP), in December last year clouded the horizon.
More than 2,500 flight cancellations in just three days from December 3-5 left passengers in the lurch, rattled aviation authorities and pushed Elbers to repeatedly apologise for disruptions, which were mainly caused by a lack of planning in implementing the revised flight duty norms for pilots.
"We have let down our customers for three days," and the airline will use it to come back better, Elbers said on January 28 at the media interaction on the sidelines of the aviation summit Wings India 2026 in Hyderabad.
In his short resignation letter on Tuesday, Elbers cited personal reasons for his departure and mentioned that if the company so desires, obviously, I will be available for any handover or transition otherwise.
However, he has been relieved with immediate effect, and IndiGo Co-Founder and Managing Director Rahul Bhatia will manage the company's affairs on an interim basis.
Back in May 2025, when asked about the way forward for IndiGo, Elbers told PTI Videos, "picture abhi baaki hai".
With ambitious growth plans on the anvil, the airline will soon have a second CEO in less than four years to pilot the journey.
