Kazakhstan significantly raises violent unrest death toll

At least 225 people have died in unrest in Kazakhstan last week, including 19 members of the security forces.

Their bodies were delivered to morgues throughout the country, the prosecutor general's office said on Saturday.

The latest toll is a dramatic increase on previous tolls announced by the officials from time to time. Kazakhstan had previously acknowledged fewer than 50 fatalities, including 26 "armed criminals" and 18 security officers. 

The figure included civilians and armed "bandits" killed by security forces, Serik Shalabayev, the head of criminal prosecution at the prosecutor's office, told a briefing.

"Unfortunately, civilians have also become victims of acts of terrorism," he added.

He did not provide an exact breakdown of the figures and said numbers could be updated later.

The toll provided by Shalabayev confirmed the violence was the deadliest in the country's post-Soviet history.

Asel Artakshinova, a spokespeson for the health ministry, said that more than 2,600 people had sought treatment at hospitals, with 67 currently in a serious condition. 

READ MORE: Kazakhstan detains hundreds more after violent unrest

Kazakhstan blames bandits, international 'terrorists'

Violent protests began in the oil-producing Central Asian state this month after a jump in car fuel prices. 

Shalabayev said 50,000 people joined the riots throughout the former Soviet republic at their peak on January 5 when crowds stormed and torched government buildings, cars, banks and shops in several major cities.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to a Russia-led military bloc for help during the unrest and sidelined his former patron and predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev by taking over the national security council.

After complaints about beatings and torture of those detained in the aftermath, Tokayev ordered police on Saturday to avoid abuses and told prosecutors to be lenient to those who have not committed grave crimes.

Authorities in Kazakhstan have blamed the violence on bandits and international "terrorists" that they said hijacked the protests that saw the epicentre of unrest move from the west to the country's largest city Almaty.

Troops from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization that helped calm the violence in the Central Asian country began a gradual withdrawal on Thursday.

READ MORE: Russian troops complete withdrawal from Kazakhstan