On January 5th, a series of events unfolded in Kazakhstan leading to the declaration of a state of emergency and President Tokayev’s call for CSTO and OSCE assistance in combating waves of Western backed rioting. Dozens have died in the chaos leading up to Russia military aid, as rioters sieged the Almaty city police department and multiple police stations, among a host of other administrative buildings including post offices. Russian forces, in tandem with Kazakh anti-terror units, are in the process of shutting down riots and restoring order, however, they have met heavy opposition from the rioters, who have engaged directly with firearms.
The riots sprang up in response to the removal of the oil price cap in Kazakhstan, an evidently neo-liberal policy. Social unrest due to the removal of the price cap, in addition to foreign trained and armed forces deliberately meddling in Kazakh affairs, are the main causes of the riots.
In his call for CSTO and OSCE assistance, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the government was in the process of combating, “terrorist groups” who “received extensive training abroad.” Russia, as a key ally of Kazakhstan and fellow member of the CSTO, responded quickly to the call for assistance, mobilizing specialized units to assist the anti-terror operation in just 30 minutes.
Amidst the chaos, videos released by ASB News have provided useful insight into the situation, as internet outages have prevented major coverage. Unmarked vehicles passing out firearms and ammunition, as well as firearms being stolen from police stations have been recorded. The most recent videos to be released (the first since Russian assistance in anti-terror operations) show the carnage inflicted by the rioters, including many wounded and dead. Despite this, all previously sieged buildings are now under government control, and the rioters have been largely pushed back with CSTO assistance.
On January 7th, President of closely-aligned China, Xi Jinping, pledged “necessary support” for the fight against “foreign forces” attempts at “color revolution.” Xi Jinping commended the joint efforts of Kazakh and Russian forces in preventing further acts of terror.
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