Kazakhstan

Russia-led bloc starts pulling troops out of Kazakhstan

cde.news desk 13 January 2022, 15:20 · 2 min read

epa09680122 A handout photo made available by the Russian Defence Ministry press service shows Russian peacekeepers guard a street in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 12 January 2022. In accordance with the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council adopted on 06 January 2022, the collective peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have been sent 'for a limited time to stabilize and normalize the situation to Kazakhstan' at the request of the Kazakh president. Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the early days of 2022 - residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed a twofold increase in prices for liquefied gas. Later, the protests turned into looting, the militants attacked state institutions, took away weapons. The authorities declared a state of emergency across the country until 19 January and launched a counter-terrorism operation. As reported by the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, some 164 people where killed during the riots. EPA-EFE/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

ALMATY, Jan 13 (Reuters) – A Russia-led military bloc began pulling its troops out of Kazakhstan on Thursday after a week-long deployment during the worst bout of unrest in the Central Asian nation’s post-Soviet history.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked for assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) last week after initially peaceful protests, triggered by a sharp increase in car fuel prices, turned violent in many big cities.

“Thanks to your arrival, Kazakh military and security forces were able to carry out their immediate task of locating and detaining bandits,” Kazakh Deputy Defence Minister Mukhamedzhan Talasov told CSTO troops at a departure ceremony in Almaty on Thursday, where they stood with their respective flags. The Russian group was the most numerous.

The Kazakh authorities announced the completion of what they called an “anti-terrorist operation” in most of the country on Wednesday, although they have yet to declare its biggest city Almaty fully secure.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern over the Russian deployment, prompting an angry response from the Kremlin. U.S.-Russian relations remain at crisis point over a buildup of Russian troops near another of Russia’s neighbours, Ukraine, despite international talks this week.

It was unclear how many troops out of about 2,500 sent in by the CSTO were leaving immediately. The alliance has said the peacekeeping contingent would take 10 days to fully withdraw.

CSTO troops were first deployed to government buildings in the capital city of Nur-Sultan, away from the centres of unrest, and later guarded some key infrastructure objects in Almaty, such as large power plants.

The authorities have detained almost 10,000 people over the unrest in which some protesters attacked security forces, captured and torched government buildings and looted shops.

They have said some of the attackers were foreigners trained by Islamist militants. Tokayev has said this justified CSTO involvement although he has not specified who the foreigners were. He has dismissed some of his senior security officials who were later charged with treason.

Some Kazakhs have echoed Blinken’s comment that Kazakhstan might have a hard time getting rid of Russian troops after letting them in. Tokayev has said no foreign troops would remain in the country after Jan.23.

Photo – A handout photo made available by the Russian Defence Ministry press service shows Russian peacekeepers guard a street in Almaty, Kazakhstan. EPA-EFE/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE