Troops told to fire without warning in Kazakhstan
Tokayev also said "20,000 bandits" had attacked the main city of Almaty, the epicentre of protests sparked by a fuel price hike
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has authorised security forces to "fire without warning" amid a violent crackdown on anti-government protests.
Tokayev also said "20,000 bandits" had attacked the main city of Almaty, the epicentre of protests sparked by a fuel price hike, reports the BBC.
He has blamed foreign-trained "terrorists", without giving evidence.
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The interior ministry says 26 "armed criminals" and 18 security officers have been killed so far in the unrest.
Security forces appeared to be in control of the streets of Kazakhstan's main city Almaty on Friday morning and the president said constitutional order had mostly been restored, a day after Russia sent troops to put down a countrywide uprising.
However, fresh gunshots could be heard in the morning near the city's central square, where troops and protesters had battled through much of the previous day.
Dozens of people have been killed in clashes on the streets and protesters have torched and ransacked public buildings in several cities in the worst violence in the Central Asian state's 30 years of independence.
Russia's defence ministry, cited by Interfax, said more than 70 planes were flying round the clock to bring Russian troops into Kazakhstan, and they were now helping control Almaty's main airport, recaptured on Thursday from protesters.
