Shooting stops in Kazahstan after Putin’s Paras arrive: Russian force of 2,500 ‘peacekeepers’ say they have right to KILL if attacked by ‘armed gangs’ after nation descended into violent chaos
- 2,500 soldiers of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) are headed for Kazakhstan
- The first CSTO troops arrived earlier today to aid Kazakh forces in quelling violent protests across the country
- The troops of Russia’s ‘mini NATO’ could stay in Kazakhstan for weeks and are permitted to use deadly force
- Officials have said over 1,000 people have been wounded so far, with no official fatality tally being released
- Russian media said Thursday 18 security officers had been killed, with three reportedly being beheaded
- Gunfire continued Thursday evening, with witnesses saying downtown Almaty had turned into a ‘war zone’
Around 2,500 soldiers of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) have arrived in Kazakhstan to help quell violent protests, the secretariat of the security bloc said today.
The forces from Russia’s ‘mini NATO’ will stay in Kazakhstan for several days or weeks, and have been given the right to use weapons in Kazakhstan in case they are attacked by ‘armed gangs,’ according to Russia’s RIA news agency.
After they arrived the shooting qwuietened down at the end of a day when gunfire and explosions had rocked the capital Almaty.
The first CSTO troops arrived to help quell the mounting unrest after Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev – an ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin – appealed overnight to the Russia-dominated security bloc which includes five other ex-Soviet states (Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan).
It is the first time that a contingent of CSTO peacekeeping troops has been dispatched to deal with conflict in one of its member states.
It comes despite the refusal of Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev to send CSTO troops to quell deadly unrest in Kyrgyzstan in 2010, because ‘only in the case of a foreign intrusion and an attempt to externally seize power can we state that there is an attack against the CSTO – all the problems of Kyrgyzstan have internal roots.’
Dozens of demonstrators were gunned down today as the streets of Almaty were turned into a ‘war zone’, with protesters being accused of beheading three police officers.
Burnt-out vehicles littered the city’s streets, several government buildings were in ruins and bullet casings were strewn over the territory of the presidential residence, which was stormed and looted by protesters yesterday.
Officials have said more than 1,000 people had been wounded so far in the clashes, with nearly 400 hospitalised and 62 in intensive care. The number of protesters killed has not been revealed, but Police said earlier they had ‘eliminated’ dozens of rioters.
Long seen as one the most stable of the ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia, energy-rich Kazakhstan is facing its biggest crisis in decades after days of protests over rising fuel prices escalated into widespread unrest.
Kazakhstan’s interior ministry on Thursday said 18 security officers have been killed and 748 wounded in the clashes with protesters. The ministry also said 2,298 protestors had been detained.
Kazakhstan’s Khabar 24 news channel reported that three of the dead security officers had been found with their heads cut off, Russian news agencies Interfax and RIA Novosti reported.
‘The most difficult situation remains in Almaty, where armed men seized and partially destroyed a number of the premises of state bodies, financial organisations, television companies and trade facilities,’ the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the Russian news agencies.
Video showed protesters armed with batons and shields overpower and brutally beat a Kazakh special forces. The Kazakh government said the severing of three officers’ heads proved that riots were of a ‘terrorist character’.
The shooting continued into Thursday, with reports saying that soldiers were firing at protesters and cars on the main square of Almaty. There are reports of multiple deaths. It came after people had been warned to leave.
One car was shown driving into a line of security personnel forming a defensive line against protesters. Video of the incident showed officers chasing the car after it crashed through the shield line, but failed to catch it.
‘It’s a war zone,’ said one eyewitness, as gunfire continued in downtown Almaty this evening.
Earlier, shocking footage showed dozens of corpses lined up in a morgue – giving a sense the scale of the carnage in the ex-Soviet republic where the worst violence since gaining independence in 1991 is continuing unabated.
The video from the morgue showed dozens of bodies but it is unclear where or exactly when they were slain.
Commentary on the macabre footage said: ‘The corpses, the bodies of the protesters. Different ages, young people. These are all protesters – adult, young. Very young.’
Separate footage on Wednesday night showed protesters pulling down a statue of Nursultan Nazarbayev – the self-styled ‘Father of the Nation’ and long-time ally of Putin.
Analysts say the Kremlin will fear that the protests in Kazakhstan are the latest signal that citizens who have spent decades living under autocracies in the shadow of the former Soviet Union are reaching their breaking point.
Protester rams a car through armed forces cordoning the administration offices
In a blow to the Kremlin, Nazarbayev, 81, yesterday gave up his final role in overall charge of security in the country. Rumours suggest he may have fled to China or Russia, with The Daily Telegraph reporting Russian military planes landed in Kazakhstan to rescue him so he could seek ‘urgent medical treatment.’
‘It is absolutely not in Putin’s interest to have this blow up in his backyard when he’s in the middle of a showdown with Nato,’ Eugene Rumer – an author and former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the U.S. National Intelligence Council, told the Financial Times.
Russia and other ex-Soviet states answered a call by the current Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for military reinforcements to quell the protests.
Russian paratroopers landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday in the role of ‘peacekeepers’ from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation which comprises a number of ex-Soviet states.
Earlier, Britain called for an end to violent protests, voicing concerns about the mass unrest triggered by an increase in fuel prices.
‘We are urging against further escalation and want to see a peaceful resolution,’ Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told reporters.
Top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell said that Russia’s military intervention in Kazakhstan brought back ‘memories of situations to be avoided’.
Borrell expressed ‘great concern’ about the situation and added: ‘Rights and security of civilians must be guaranteed … EU is ready to support in addressing this crisis.’
