Kazakh president says constitutional order has mostly been restored

ALMATY (Reuters) – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Friday that constitutional order had mostly been restored in the Central Asian country hit by unrest, his office quoted him as saying in a statement.

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Kazakh law enforcement officers stand guard in Nur-Sultan

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People queue to get cash from ATMs in Nur-Sultan

The Kazakh interior ministry said in a separate statement that 26 “armed criminals” had been “liquidated” and more than 3,000 of them detained, while 18 police and national guard servicemen had been killed since the start of the protests this week.

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Kazakh law enforcement officers stand guard in Nur-Sultan

Tokayev will address the nation on Friday, the state TV added.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Tamara Vaal; writing by Polina Devitt; editing by Kim Coghill)

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A man stands near the building of the Kazakhstan state TV channel which was torched during protests in Almaty