Russia Sends Troops To Kazakhstan To Suppress Uprising

Russia sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan on Thursday, Jan. 6, to help put down a countrywide uprising after deadly violence spread across the tightly-controlled former Soviet state, Olzhas Auyezov and Mariya Gordeyeva reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Protesters toppled a statue of strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Police said they had killed dozens of rioters in the Central Asian country's main city Almaty. State television said 13 members of the security forces had died, including two found decapitated. A report from the Associated Press (AP) said 12 security men were killed.

The protesters "are Kazakhs, and Tokayev will try putting them down with Russian troops. That will not look great for Moscow," tweeted economist Tim Ash, who specializes in the region. Western countries have called for calm. Neighbor China called the events an internal matter for Kazakhstan.

The internet had been shut down across the country and the full extent of the violence was impossible to confirm. But the unrest was unprecedented for Kazakhstan, ruled firmly since Soviet times by leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, who had held on to the reins despite stepping down three years ago as president.

Nazarbayev's hand-picked successor, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, called in forces from ally Russia overnight as part of a Moscow-led military alliance of ex-Soviet states. He blamed the unrest on foreign-trained terrorists who he said had seized buildings and weapons. Kazakhstan is the world’s biggest uranium producer.

"It is an undermining of the integrity of the state and most importantly it is an attack on our citizens who are asking me... to help them urgently," he said.

Moscow said it would consult with Kazakhstan and allies on further measures to support the Kazakh authorities' "counter-terrorist operation" and called the uprising a foreign-inspired attempt to undermine the country's security by force. Neither Kazakhstan nor Russia provided evidence to support the claim of foreign involvement.

The secretariat of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation said advanced units of Russian paratroopers were in the country and had "already begun to fulfill their assigned tasks."

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