NUR-SULTAN, January 7. /TASS/. The peacekeepers that have been deployed to Kazakhstan by the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance of former Soviet republics, aren’t involved in military operations amid the country’s riots, Dauren Abayev, first deputy head of the country’s presidential administration, said on Khabar-24 television channel on Friday.
"This is a peacekeeping mission," he said. "The CSTO soldiers aren’t involved in the hostilities and the liquidation of the militants."
The peacekeepers will defend government offices, he said.
Kazakhstan’s government on January 6 deployed its special services units - Arystan, Arlan, Berkut - and Defense Ministry units to battle terrorists in Almaty on January 6, the official said. Government offices in the city have been freed from the militants while many of the militants have been killed or detained and being identified, he said. Order has been restored in all of the country’s regions and the situation has stabilized, Abayev said.
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, later growing into mass riots and attacks on government offices. Thousands of casualties have been reported, including fatalities. The Kazakh president asked the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance of former Soviet republics, for help. First peacekeeping units have already started fulfilling their tasks in Kazakhstan. The government said order has generally been restored in all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7, while the situation is the most difficult in Almaty.