US authorizes non-emergency consulate employees to leave Kazakhstan

Non-emergency employees working for the United States Consulate General in Kazakhstan were authorized Friday to leave the country, the State Department said, as Kazakhstan’s president rejected calls for talks with protesters after days of unprecedented unrest.

“On January 7, 2022, the Department approved the voluntary departure of Consulate General Almaty non-emergency US government employees and family members of all Consulate General Almaty US government employees,” it said in a statement on Friday night.

On Saturday, the former head of Kazakhstan’s domestic intelligence agency has been detained on suspicion of high treason, the agency, after he was fired amid violent protests.