Kazakh National Security Committee Says Nazarbayev's Nephew Still Its First Deputy Head

ALMATY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2022) Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (NSC) said on Friday that Samat Abish, the nephew of the first Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, is still its first deputy head.

Last week, media reported about the detention of Abish amid the civil unrest that engulfed Kazakhstan. Later, the NSC denied the reports about his detention.

"Because of the multiple requests, we say that Samat Abish is still the first deputy head of the NSC of the Republic of Kazakhstan," the body said in a statement.

Protests began in the cities of Aktau and Zhanaozen in southwestern Kazakhstan last week over a twofold hike in fuel prices.

They quickly spread to the country's largest city and economic hub, Almaty, as well as other cities, and turned violent. Shops were looted while government offices were attacked. The Collective Security Treaty Organization deployed a peacekeeping contingent to Kazakhstan after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked the regional alliance for help in battling terrorists.

The Kazakh president reshuffled the cabinet and appointed a new prime minister on Tuesday.