The protests have been going on in the gas and oil country of Kazakhstan since the New Year weekend.
It started as a demonstration against high gas prices but soon became a matter of other injustices such as corruption, low wages, unemployment and lousy infrastructure.
The situation has escalated and led to violence.
On Wednesday, the town hall in Almaty, which is the country's largest city, was stormed.
The building started to burn and smoke was seen billowing out.
Kravall police fired distraction grenades and tear gas at the thousands of protesters in the big city.
The Ministry of the Interior states that the police in Almaty have detained around 2,000 people.
A national state of emergency has been issued and a curfew applies between 23 and 07.
According to Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry, at least 18 police and "a dozen" protesters have been killed in the riots.
Communications within the country and with the outside world have been hampered by the fact that mobile traffic and messaging services are subject to extensive disruptions with hour-long shutdowns of the internet.
The government of Kazakhstan has been dissolved and President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev has announced that he has accepted a resignation request from the government through Prime Minister Askar Mamin.
On the night before Thursday, however, Tokayev announced that he would take on a new role, as chairman of the Security Council.
According to the independent Radio Azattyk, the president said he will now proceed with "tougher measures".
The authorities announced on Thursday that in an attempt to curb the protests, a six-month ceiling was set on the price of LPG, which is used as a vehicle fuel.
In total, more than 1,000 people have been injured so far "as a result of riots in various regions of Kazakhstan", according to the country's health authorities.
Over 400 are cared for in hospitals and about 60 receive intensive care.
President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev has called for help from the Moscow-led security organization CSTO, which includes six former Soviet states, to stop the unrest.
What are called peacekeeping forces have now begun to be sent to Kazakhstan.
Among other things, Russian paratroopers are flying in.
The task of the forces is said to be to stabilize and normalize the situation.
Late Thursday night, local time, the Russian state-controlled news agencies Tass and Ria Novosti reported that security forces had "emptied the square" in Almaty of people.
Both the UN and the EU on Thursday expressed great concern about developments in Kazakhstan.
Hear SVT's foreign reporter Carl Fridh Kleberg analyze the events in the clip:
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Carl Fridh Kleberg on the president's tactics for dealing with the protesters who are storming parliament.
Photo: SVT & AP Photo / Vladimir Tretyakov