The president of Kazakhstan said he has authorized law enforcement to open fire on what he called “terrorists” and shoot to kill – without giving warning.

The Kazakh media outlet; Vlast reported on Friday that Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in a televised speech to the nation, blamed the unrest on “terrorists” and “militants” and said that he had authorized the use of lethal force against them.

“I have given the order to law enforcement and the army to shoot to kill without warning,” Tokayev said. “Those who don’t surrender will be eliminated.”

He alsoslammed calls for talks with the protesters made by some other countries as “nonsense.”

“What negotiations can be held with criminals, murderers?” Tokayev said.

Nationwide protests have taken place across Kazakhstan over the past week in reaction to rising fuel prices. The country’s government resigned, and police said they killed dozens of protesters who stormed government buildings.

The protests began after the government removed a price cap on liquefied petroleum gas. The president reversed the price rise on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Thousands of people have been detained, The Guardian reported, and Tokayev said on Friday that order in Kazakhstan had mostly been restored, Reuters reported.

The country’s internet was also blocked on Thursday, and remained blocked on Friday, the internet-monitoring company Netblocks said. In other parts of the country some things started to go back to normal. In the capital, Nur-Sultan, access to the internet has been partially restored, and train traffic has been resumed across Kazakhstan.

In a concession, the government on Thursday announced a 180-day price cap on vehicle fuel and a moratorium on utility rate increases.

Tokayev has vacillated between trying to appease the protesters, including accepting the resignation of his government, and promising harsh measures to quell the unrest, which he blamed on “terrorist bands.”

In what was seen as one such measure, the president has called on a Russia-led military alliance for help. The alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, includes the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and has started deploying troops to Kazakhstan for a peacekeeping mission.

Kazakh officials have insisted that the troops will not be fighting the demonstrators, and instead will take on guarding government institutions.

On Friday, Tokayev declared that constitutional order was “mainly restored in all regions of the country” and that “local authorities are in control of the situation.”

The president added, however, that “terrorists are still using weapons and are damaging people’s property” and that “counterterrorist actions” should be continued.

Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry reported on Friday that 26 protesters had been killed during the unrest, 18 were wounded and more than 3,000 people have been detained. A total of 18 law enforcement officers were reported killed and over 700 sustained injuries.