Russia's military-led Collective Security Treaty Organization has begun withdrawing troops from Kazakhstan after a week-long deployment that helped the Central Asian nation overcome the worst unrest in its post-Soviet history, reports Reuters.
Kazakh President Kasim-Jomart Tokayev asked for help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) last week as violence engulfed half of the country, while firing some of his top security officials who were later accused of state betrayal.
Authorities said this week that they have stabilized the situation and completed the so-called "anti-terrorist operation" in most of the country, but this is not yet the case for Almaty's largest city.
"Thanks to your arrival, Kazakhstan's military and security forces have been able to carry out their immediate task of locating and detaining the bandits," Kazakh Deputy Defense Minister Mohamed Talasov told CSTO leaving troops on Thursday.
The alliance said on Wednesday that the peacekeeping contingent would need 10 days to withdraw completely.
The protests sparked by the sharp rise in car fuel prices were initially peaceful, but later escalated into violence in many major cities, with some protesters attacking security forces, seizing and setting fire to government buildings and looting shops.
Authorities detained nearly 10,000 people during the riots and said some of the attackers were foreigners trained by Islamist militants.
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