They shoot in Kazakhstan again

What is known about the attack on the police department in one of the largest cities of Kazakhstan

In one of the largest cities of Kazakhstan, an armed attack on the police department was committed: four people died, about ten wounded. Everything happened against the background of the extension of the "yellow" level of the terrorist threat and the complete silence of the authorities.

On Monday, July 18, at 10:54 PM on the Almalinsky Internal Affairs Directorate in the city of Almaty in the south of Kazakhstan, an armed attack was committed. According to official figures, a man took possession of the automatic weapons of one of the police officers, after which he ran away to the next street, where the accomplices waited for him (their number varies from one to three) by car Toyota-Kami. At the same time, another shootout began near the Internal Affairs Directorate - in the area of ​​the Nikolsky market. Fourteen minutes after the attack, the first policeman was killed - the attackers shot the patrol at the intersection of Abay and Bayzakov streets. Police crews who entered the battle went to the place. Three police officers were injured, two of them died later.

After that, the criminals tried to hide, but the police were able to catch up with the car and shoot one of the attackers. In relation to what happened to the attackers further, the information varies: according to the same data, the wounded attacker died, the rest disappeared; According to others, one of the criminals was detained with injuries, while the others (or the other) are still on the wanted list. In any case, the Siren plan was announced in the city, and the level of terrorist danger from the “yellow” throughout the country was transferred to “red” specifically in Almaty.

In addition to three dead police officers, another peaceful resident was killed - presumably this is a driver whose car the criminals tried to take possession. It is noteworthy that a video is widespread on the Web, where a person with a machine is trying to blocked the road to another driver (girl), but she with the words "sick, or what?" He walks around him and goes on. The number of victims can grow, since seven police officers remain in intensive care. In total, there were from eight to fourteen people in hospitals. A list of alleged victims is walking along social networks, however, it is extremely difficult to distinguish where in this case is true and where - fake.

The scarcity of official information and a large number of rumors have generally become a distinctive feature of attacks in Kazakhstan. Only in the evening, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the emergency convocation of the meeting of the Security Council, and before that the official authorities were silent about what was happening at all. Moreover, by the irony of fate, all Kazakhstani television channels and radio stations went to planned prevention, which, coupled with the events, made an additional effect of the Swan Lake, as the political scientist called Satpaev. The sloppiness of the security forces in the information lighting of the attack led to a large number of fake news. So, there were talk about the attack on the military unit in Kapchagai (city in the Almaty region), rumors about the massive performance of militants in one of the city microdistricts, as well as the capture of the shopping center. None of this was confirmed, however, the local population has a certain skepticism. So, the detained attacker is suspected of killing a woman the night before, but commentators in social networks doubt that he could arrange this massacre almost alone.

The “red” level of terrorist danger declared in the almost two millionth city means the maximum increase in security measures. In the Almaty metro, absolutely all passengers are checked. In the city, banks, shopping centers, most shops and entertainment institutions are closed. A taxi service works with interruptions. Security measures are strengthened throughout the country: military units are brought into full combat readiness, and the protection of strategic objects was strengthened. Meanwhile, restrictive measures existed in the country - after the events of June 5 in the city of Aktobe, where the attackers tried to seize the military unit and held the city in fear for a week - the “yellow” level of terrorist danger was declared throughout the republic. Moreover, two days before the events in Almaty, the “yellow” level was extended. As the events in the former Kazakhstan capital showed, by the second over the past two months the attack by Kazakhstani special services were again not ready.

Experts, giving operational comments on the current situation, note that the events in Aktobe and in Almaty can be considered the links of the same chain. “I think this was planned in advance: it was given an indication from any of their centers-both in Kazakhstan and from abroad. Of course, the last terrorist attacks could be encouraged by the sleeping groups that we had in Almaty. But I am inclined to the fact that they had an instruction to activate their actions. Show the breadth of its actions, ”the retired colonel Arat Narmanbetova quotes the Tengrinews.kz website. True, it is absolutely premature to talk about this so far: the events in Aktobe on June 5, which the New Gazeta wrote about, still remain not fully investigated, and there are also logical holes in them. So, it is still not clear how many attackers (Minister of the Interior Kulmukhanbet Kasimov said that there were 45, but then the part “refused” Jihad on the way to the arms store). In addition, it is argued that the actions of the attackers could lead a certain “preacher from Syria”, but at the same time, experts noted a certain aimlessness of the actions of the “terrorists”.

In the case of the situation in Almaty, everything was first served so that it was pure crime. However, in the evening, information appeared that the attackers could still be adherents of non-traditional religious movements: according to some reports, during the attack they shouted “Allah Akbar!”. However, even doubts remain in this: in the conditions of the information vacuum, the best tactics are not to believe anyone at all. Only one thing is clear: Kazakhstan finally ceased to be an “island of stability”, which was so carefully exposed to the authorities, and in front of his eyes turns into a zone of increased danger.