Kazakhstan protest: President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a televised speech that foreign-trained "terrorist" gangs were seizing buildings, infrastructure and weapons, and had taken five aircraft, including foreign ones, at Almaty airport.

Many cities across Kazakhstan have been witnessing unrest as thousands of protesters took to streets against the sharp increase in price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which most Kazakhs use as car fuel

The price rise came as the country ended a gradual transition to electronic trading for LPG to halt state subsidies for fuel and let the market dictate prices.

Even though the government announced on Tuesday that fuel prices will be reduced to a level even lower than before the increase, and on Wednesday President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sacked his cabinet, the protests are continuing

Where did the protest start?

The popular anger spilled over first in western Kazakhstan, an oil-rich area, over the weekend. By Tuesday, the entire country was under its grip.

The anger among the public was already running high because of rising inflation which was closing in on 9% year-on-year - the highest in more than five years - leading the central bank to raise interest rates to 9.75%.

The resource-rich country of 19 million is estimated to have a million people living below the poverty line.

The protests have yet to have an impact on Kazakhstan's oil production