Mission accomplished, foreign troops leave, declares Kazakh president

Foreign soldiers who arrived in Kazakhstan last week are leaving. They have accomplished their mission to restore stability, President Tokayev said. The withdrawal will begin in two days and must be completed in ten days.

Last week, violent unrest erupted in Kazakhstan. Protesters attacked government buildings and clashed with riot police. In doing so, 164 dead fell. The number of detainees has now risen to 10,000.

President Tokayev said it was an attempted coup involving internationally trained Islamists. He asked for help from the CSTO, a Russian-led military alliance of former Soviet countries. About 2,000 troops have been deployed to protect strategic locations such as airports.

Struggle for power

According to analysts, there are also a power struggle within the elite. Tokaev reportedly requested CSTO’s help because he did not trust his own security apparatus.

The head of the NSC’s intelligence service, Karim Masimov, was sacked and arrested on charges of high treason. Because he did not identify the danger in time and because he did not intervene properly during the riots, Tokayev told parliament today.

Here are pictures of the unrest from last week: