The highest of terror alerts has been declared in Almaty following an armed attack on police officers, the Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
Kazakh law enforcement announced a counter-terrorism operation in Almaty and urged residents of the city to stay indoors and keep safe.
The area has been cordoned off by police with reports coming in that police are engaged in a shootout with at least one perpetrator, Sputnik reports.
At lease one civilian and three police officers have been killed and seven more people in critical condition, Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry said.
"The emergency care hospital is taken under armed security. It's reported that there are no victims among civilians. The hospital psychologists are on their way to work with the relatives of the injured men," Tengrinews.kz agency reported.
Local authorities confirmed that one attacker was detained by police. Witnesses report on social networks that the man was “trying to stop a police car, and then ran east.”
