Kazakhstan president appeals to Russia's military alliance for help as unrest escalates

Mass protests in Kazakhstan escalate. President says he is taking the position of long-time ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Kazakhstan's president has appealed to a Russian-led military assistance for help in quelling the mass protests gripping the Central Asian country, promising to use force to put down the unrest.

President Kassym-Jopart Tokayev in a televised speech Wednesday said he had appealed to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a security alliance of former Soviet countries dominated by Russia, to assist Kazakhstan with suppressing the protests which he claimed were being led by foreign terrorists.

Mass protests have spread across Kazakhstan, first triggered by anger over a hike in fuel prices, but which have escalated into a unprecedented challenge to the authoritarian regime of Nursultan Nazarbayev, that has dominated the former Soviet country for three decades and is a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin" target="_blank">Vladimir Putin.

Thousands of protesters on Wednesday stormed government buildings in several cities, including the largest city and former capital Almaty. There, protesters broke into the city administration office, set fire to other key buildings, and overran the airport. Security forces trying to violently disperse the crowds there and in several other cities appeared overwhelmed, with videos posted by local media showing protesters forcing military armored vehicles to flee and riding in police vehicles. Kazakhstan's interior ministry said at least eight police officers had been killed.