Some Kazakh protesters feel they were tricked into fuelling clan feud

FILE PHOTO: A view shows an artwork including its fragment that depicts Kazakhstan's First President Nursultan Nazarbayev, which was smeared with mud during recent protests triggered by fuel price increase, in a square in Almaty, Kazakhstan January 11, 2022. REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev/File Photo

ALMATY (Reuters) - Some anti-government protesters in Kazakhstan, angry at a steep rise in car fuel prices, said their peaceful demonstrations this month were hijacked by mysterious masked men and that they feel they were tricked into fuelling a clan power struggle.

The protests erupted after a doubling in car fuel prices felt especially strongly in the west of the vast oil-rich Central Asian nation where most drivers use LPG rather than gasoline.