YEREVAN, 5 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. A state of emergency has been declared throughout Kazakhstan, ARMENPRESS reports "Mir 24" TV channel informed, citing "Sputnik Kazakhstan".

According to TASS, eyewitnesses reported that protesters in Almaty seized the building of the local headquarters of the National Security Committee.

Earlier, the protesters set fire to Almaty's Branch of National TV Channel of Kazakhstan. They also stormed the former president's residence in the former capital, Almaty, as well as the Almaty administration building. Protests in Kazakhstan began on January 2 over the sharp rise in liquefied natural gas prices in the southwestern cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau. Two days later, riots broke out in Almaty, where police used light and sound grenades to disperse the crowd, as in other cities.