Ten die in Kazakh clashes over pay

A STATE of emergency has been declared in the western Kazakh town of Zhanaozen after clashes between strikers and police left at least ten dead.

A decree bans strikes and public protests and curbs freedom of movement within the oil town and access to it.

Clashes began as police tried to clear the town square, occupied by oil workers for more than six months in a dispute over better pay.

It was the worst violence in Kazakhstan’s recent history.

The town is now said to be calm, but it remains closed to the outside world after flights to a nearby airport were cancelled.

Wounded victims filled the hospitals of the town yesterday. At least ten people were killed when riot police clashed on Friday with a crowd in the city of Zhanaozen, centre of protests by nearly 1,000 oil workers sacked by the state-controlled KazMunaiGas Exploration Production.

The head of a local trade union said sporadic shooting had been heard throughout the night in Zhanaozen, a city of 90,000 that is 95 miles inland from the Caspian Sea. Power and internet communication had been cut off.

“The hospitals in Zhanaozen are all full and they are bringing the wounded to Aktau, civilians and policemen alike,” said Kenzhegali Suyeov, chairman of the Aktau independent union.

Public protests are rare in Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest economy and oil producer, where President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ruled for more than 20 years and has overseen massive foreign investment, mainly in oil and gas.