It is reported by Sputnik Kazakhstan.

“There is a shootout in the square,” a Telegram message says.

As specified, on the Republic Square in Alma-Ata there are about 200 armed "instigators of riots", some with firearms.

Earlier, there was information that the military on armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles took the pogromists in the ring in the center of Alma-Ata.

Residents of Alma-Ata were warned over loudspeakers about evacuation from the streets due to the active phase of cleaning the city from criminal elements.

Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev said that the protests in the country should be viewed as an act of aggression.

He also reported on the fighting between rioters and airborne units near Alma-Ata.