Internet was shut down across the country and while the full extent of the unrest was not immediately clear, it was unprecedented in a country ruled firmly since Soviet times by leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has held on to the reins of power despite stepping down three years ago as president.
Graphic police footage of Kazakh unrest
As Russian paratroopers arrived in Kazakhstan, long viewed as a bastion of stability in volatile Central Asia, police in Almaty said they had killed dozens of rioters while struggling to restore order.
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