INTERNATIONAL: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Washington was seeking clarification from Kazakhstan officials on why they needed to call in Russian-led security forces to resolve domestic unrest, and he denounced the government's shoot-to-kill order.

The U.S. Secretary of State was quoted as saying during an interview on Sunday; "The shoot-to-kill order, to the extent it exists, is wrong and should be rescinded.”

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan authorities have detained Karim Massimov, the former head of the national security committee, and some other officials on suspicion of treason, the security committee said on Saturday, without providing further details.

Security forces appeared to have reclaimed the streets of Kazakhstan's main city on Friday after days of violence, the Russian-backed president Tokayev has declared he had ordered his troops to shoot to kill to put down a countrywide uprising.