Police said they had killed dozens of rioters in the main city Almaty. State television said 13 members of the security forces had died, including two who had been decapitated.

Reuters journalists in Almaty said a presidential residence and the mayor's office were both ablaze. By Thursday afternoon, the city's airport, seized earlier by protesters, was under the firm control of military personnel. Burnt-out cars littered the streets.

Several armored personnel carriers and scores of troops had entered the main square of Almaty on Thursday morning, and gunshots could be heard as troops approached the crowd, Reuters correspondents reported from the scene.

Later on Thursday, the square appeared peaceful, with 200-300 protesters still gathered and no troops around.

The Internet had been shut down across the country and the full extent of the violence was impossible to confirm. But the unrest was unprecedented for Kazakhstan, ruled firmly since Soviet times by leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, who had held on to the reins despite stepping down three years ago as president.

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