Kazakh Defense Minister Resigns Over Deadly Explosions At Military Warehouse

By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service August 31, 2021

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Nurlan Ermekbaev has resigned after a series of explosions last week in the Central Asian nation's south that left at least 15 people dead.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev accepted Ermekbaev's resignation letter, presidential spokesman Berik Uali said on August 31.

In addition to the fatalities, dozens more people were injured in the explosions caused by a fire at an ammunition warehouse in the Zhambyl region on August 26.

One person remains missing.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-defense- minister-resigns/31436572.html

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.