Kazakhstan's president says Russian troops to start leaving this week
Russian-led troops sent to help quell protests will begin leaving Kazakhstan in two days now that the government is back in control, the country's president has said.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in an address to Kazakhstan's parliament Tuesday said the troops, deployed by the Moscow-dominated military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation at his request last week, would start a phased withdrawal that would finish in no more than 10 days.
"The main mission of the CSTO peacekeeping forces has been successfully completed," Tokayev told lawmakers. He said that the situation was now stable in all regions of Kazakhstan.
The Russian-led alliance sent troops late last week to Kazakhstan as violent protests saw Tokayev's authoritarian government lose control over its biggest city, Almaty. Russia sent the largest contingent, deploying paratroopers units with armored vehicles, backed by several hundred soldiers from the other former Soviet countries in the alliance: Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Tokayev has said the force numbers around 2,300 troops.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kazakhstans-president-says-russian-troops-to-start-leaving-this-week/ar-AASFhbl
Kazakhstan’s Tokayev announces swift end to Russian-led intervention, reorganizes security forces
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced Tuesday that troops from Russia and other members of a regional security organization would leave the country within 10 days after the unrest that roiled the energy-rich nation for the past week was quelled.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization answered Tokayev’s appeal for help by sending in 2,500 peacekeeping troops Thursday after protesters rioted in cities across the country, setting government buildings alight and looting the Almaty airport. It was the organization’s first intervention since its formation in 2002.
“The main mission of the CSTO peacekeeping forces has been successfully completed. In two days, a phased withdrawal of the CSTO united peacekeeping contingent will begin. The process of withdrawing the contingent will take no more than 10 days,” Tokayev told a meeting of Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament.
How the crisis in Kazakhstan went from fuel protests to a ‘shoot-to- kill’ order by the president
Kazakh authorities detained almost 10,000 people during a tough crackdown on the unrest; Tokayev said during a televised address to the nation that he had given security forces shoot-to-kill orders. At least 164 people died in the violence, according the Kazakh authorities, including 16 law enforcement officers.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kazakhstans-tokayev-announces-swift-end-to-russian-led-intervention-reorganizes-security-forces/ar-AASEOPt
