Serviceman and military equipment patrol a street of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Protests sparked by rising fuel prices, started in the towns of Zhanaozen and Aktau in western Kazakhstan on January 2 and spread rapidly across the country. On January 5, President Tokayev dismissed the government and declared a 2-week state of emergency in the Mangistau and Almaty regions, as well as in the cities of Almaty and Nur-Sultan.