Kazakhstan government resigns after violent protests over fuel price

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the government's resignation on Wednesday, his office said, after violent protests triggered by a fuel price increase rocked the oil-rich Central Asian country.

Police used tear gas and stun grenades late on Tuesday to drive hundreds of protesters out of the main square in Almaty, the former Soviet republic's biggest city, and clashes went on for hours in nearby areas. Tokayev declared a state of emergency in Almaty and the oil-producing western Mangistau province early on Wednesday and has said that domestic and foreign provocateurs were behind the violence.

The protests began in Mangistau province on Sunday following the lifting of price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, a popular car fuel, a day earlier, after which its price more than doubled.

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