Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday said the main goal of terrorists, including “foreign militants from Afghanistan and the Mideast countries”, was to undermine constitutional order and seize power through a coup. He was virtually addressing a meeting of heads of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
He said that foreign militants were involved in perpetuating violence and aggression against Kazakhstan. According to Tokayev, the situation was critical – Almaty and nine other regional centres were held by terrorists.
Members of Pakistani Tablighi Jamaat (the banned group has been trying to spread its network in Central Asia and Russia), in collaboration with well-trained radicals from Afghanistan, have fuelled terrorism and riots in Kazakhstan. The role of Turkish rebels and their connections with Af-Pak rebels have also come under scanner.
