Russian troops leave Kazakhstan amid reported power struggle

Russia-led bloc completes Kazakhstan pullout

A Russian-led contingent of troops had arrived in Kazakhstan following an urgent appeal from the president after historic unrest broke out

Russian soldiers completed their draw down from Kazakhstan, the defence ministry said Wednesday, as the Central Asian country lifted a state of emergency imposed after unprecedented unrest and signs of a power struggle.

The ex-Soviet country was roiled by clashes sparked during peaceful rallies around the New Year against fuel price hikes. At least 225 people -- including 19 servicemen -- died in unrest that prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to appeal to Moscow for help.

The Russian defence ministry said Wednesday that four planes carrying its remaining troops had departed from the capital Nur-Sultan and Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty.

Video distributed by the ministry showed troops landing at an airport in the southern Russian city of Ulyanovsk, where a ceremony was held to mark their return.

Their last departure came hours after Tokayev's spokesman Berik Uali confirmed the end of a two-week state of emergency, saying "the unity and integrity of the people, law enforcement agencies and military" had ensured order was restored.

But Almaty was tense Wednesday morning, where AFP correspondents saw police blocking access to several central roads after a banned opposition group called for protests.

There had been concerns Moscow would leverage the mission to influence Kazakhstan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had warned that "once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave".

The authorities have blamed the violence that centred in Almaty -- the financial hub of 1.8 million people -- on bandits and "terrorists" with international links.

Tokayev on Wednesday announced the dismissal of defence minister Murat Bektanov saying that the army's poor performance had forced him to call on the CSTO to intervene.

Tokayev said Bektanov had been unable to utilise the military's full potential "in a critical situation" saying authorities "were forced to resort to outside help".

On Tuesday, Nazarbayev was shown speaking for the first time since the crisis began to deny that he was in a tussle with the man he handpicked to replace him as head of state in 2019.

Calling the violence "a lesson for all of us", Nazarbayev added: "It is important to find out who organised all these pogroms and murders".

Tokayev became head of the country's security council as the crisis began to peak on January 5 -- a position that Nazarbayev previously occupied and was viewed as a check on the head of state's authority.

Recent days have seen Nazarbayev's in-laws and relatives leave top government and corporate posts in moves that appear to weaken the former first family's vice-like grip on politics and over Central Asia's largest economy. 

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