Kazakhstan leader rejects talks, tells forces to "shoot to kill"
Almaty, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan's president on Friday rejected calls for talks with protesters after days of unprecedented unrest, vowing to destroy "armed bandits" and authorizing his forces to shoot to kill without warning. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said earlier that order had mostly been restored across the country, after protests this week over fuel prices escalated into widespread violence, especially in the country's biggest city of Almaty.
"Terrorists continue to damage property... and use weapons against civilians. I have given the order to law enforcement to shoot to kill without warning," Tokayev said in his third televised address to the nation this week.
He ridiculed calls from Western nations' to hold negotiations with the protesters as "idiotic," vowing not to talk to "criminals and murderers."
"We are dealing with armed and trained bandits, both local and foreign. With bandits and terrorists. So, they must be destroyed. This will be done shortly," the president said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kazakhstan-leader-rejects-talks-tells-forces-to-shoot-to-kill/ar-AASwXAH
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