Russia-led troops begin to withdraw from Kazakhstan

Phased pullout would take no more than 10 days, Kazakhstan's president says

Russia will begin its drawdown of troops from Almaty, Kazakhstan. AP

More than 2,000 Russian-led troops began withdrawing from Kazakhstan, AFP reported Moscow as saying on Thursday.

The troops were posted when peaceful protests over an energy price rise turned into unprecedented violence claiming dozens of lives.

The decision to send peacekeepers was a first for the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), often touted by Russia as a Nato equivalent but previously reluctant to interfere in unrest in Central Asia – a region with long historical ties to Russia.

Russia's Defence Ministry said the "collective peacekeeping forces ... are starting to prepare equipment and materiel for loading into the planes of the military transport aviation of the Russian aerospace forces and returning to the points of permanent deployment".

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev framed the clashes as a coup attempt assisted by local and international terrorists.

His Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin suggested the violence was reminiscent of "colour revolutions" instigated by foreign meddling.

Mr Tokayev said the phased withdrawal of the foreign troops would take no more than 10 days.

Concern had mounted that Moscow could leverage the mission to shore up its influence in Kazakhstan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier warned the Kazakhs that "once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave".

While authorities have described the violence as the work of foreign "terrorists", it erupted on the back of peaceful demonstrations over a rise in fuel prices and against a background of deteriorating living standards and endemic corruption.