Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked Russia and partners in a military alliance for help after anti-government protesters seized official buildings including a major airport in the biggest challenge to the country’s leadership in decades.
A state of emergency was imposed across the country. Military units fought what Tokayev called “terrorist bands” outside the country’s largest city and former capital, Almaty, where demonstrators had seized the international airport, he said. Authorities later said it had been retaken, Interfax reported.
