According to local media reports on Thursday, at least two law enforcement officers were beheaded amid violent protests in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

According to local authorities, news of the claimed incidents was carried by Nur-state-run Sultan's television program Khabar 24. So far, 353 officers are reported to have been injured. According to reports, the death toll among police and security personnel has risen to 13.

It is unknown if the victims were decapitated while still alive or had their remains mangled postmortem.

According to sources quoted by the channel, the beheadings were "direct evidence of the rioting groups' terrorist and extremist nature."

The Russian news agency RIA contacted the Almaty authorities for comment, with officials informing its journalists that at least two bodies had been discovered headless.

This week, protests erupted in numerous locations across Kazakhstan, with locals initially protesting a significant increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev put a six-month price ceiling on petroleum and abolished his government in an apparent attempt to deescalate the crisis. However, violent protests continue unabated, with Almaty, the old capital, the focal point.

Social media videos show demonstrators assaulting police officers, grabbing rifles and explosives, and attacking and torching administrative buildings throughout the city. Numerous stores have also been reported to have been looted.

On Wednesday night, special forces were dispatched to Almaty in response to reports of gunfights between security officers and armed rioters. According to authorities, cops shot and killed hundreds of armed citizens.

The president labeled the rioters "terrorists" and claimed they had trained abroad, warning protestors that the authorities would not tolerate violence or looting. He has requested assistance from allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization in peacekeepers to help stabilize the situation. Russia, one of the bloc's members, has already sent paratroopers to secure government buildings.