Kazakhstan unrest: What are the protests about?

The protests started at the weekend and were sparked by rising fuel prices in the west of the country

Riot police walk to block demonstrators during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Picture: AP Photo/Vladimir Tretyakov

Unrest in Kazakhstan is continuing, and the president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has called on a Moscow-led security alliance to provide “peacekeeping troops” to help him regain control.

With a mobile reception and internet blackout across much of the country, reliable figures on casualties are hard to come by, but there have been violent clashes in Almaty and other cities. Tokayev has promised a ruthless crackdown and blamed “terrorists” trained abroad for the violence.