is rising. at night, the stand—off grows particularly violent. stun grenades, rubber bullets and reportedly live rounds have been used to crack down on the protest. the clashes are taking place just a few hundred metres away from where i'm standing now. you can hear the sound of shooting and explosions, and judging by that sound, a real battle is going on the main square of almaty. we saw several armoured personnel carriers moving towards the square where a small group of protesters had gathered. in response to the violence, the kazakh authorities have appealed to russia—led regional security organisation, csto, to send troops to restore order. according to kazakhstan�*s president, the country is facing an external aggression. translation: given that these terrorist gangs - are international and have received extensive training abroad, their attack on kazakhstan