Russian troops withdraw from Kazakhstan as state of emergency ends
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Russian troops in Kazakhastan on peacekeeping duty have completed their withdrawal from the country, confirmed Russian defence ministry. The troops left Kazakhstan after the country lifted the state of emergency which was declared after unprecedented unrest in the Central Asian state.The Russian defence ministry said that four military planes carrying its last remaining troops had departed from the capital Nur-Sultan and Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty. "The last units of the peacekeepers and the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent headed by Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov will return home on these planes," it said, according to Russian news agencies. Troops from the bloc that includes ex-Soviet states Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia began arriving on January 6 following an invitation from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The withdrawal began on Thursday."The peacekeeping operation...on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been completed," said Serdyukov.The withdrawal comes on the same day that oil-rich Kazakhstan ended states of emergency across the country imposed after violence erupted that authorities blamed on bandits and "terrorists".