Armenia sends 100 peacekeepers to Kazakhstan

Armenia has sent 100 peacekeepers to Kazakhstan as part of a CSTO contingent deployed to the country amid unrest in major cities, the Defense Ministry reports on Friday, January 7.

Throughout the mission, the Armenian peacekeeping unit will only protect buildings and infrastructures of strategic importance, the Defense Ministry added.

First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan Dauren Abaev said earlier that CSTO troops will not participate in hostilities in Kazakhstan.

The decision to send peacekeepers to Kazakhstand came almost immediately after Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed to the CSTO for assistance dealing with what he called a “terrorist threat”.

The peacekeepers, together with the law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan, have already taken control of the Almaty airport, Major General Igor Konashenkov, an official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, told reporters on Friday.

Protesters stormed government buildings in Almaty on January 5 and fought running battles with police and the military, with officials saying 748 security officers were wounded and 18 killed, including two had been decapitated.