Kazakhstan

**davidbfpo** · 06-15-2016

Thanks to a "lurker" for a pointer to a recent ISIS attack in Kazakhstan, on June 5th 2016, which I had not spotted.

From the first, very limited news story found:

Kazakh security forces detained three men on Sunday suspected of being Islamist militants linked to deadly attacks a week earlier in the city of Akrobe, the National Security Committee said. Everyone linked to the June 5 attacks had now been detained or neutralised, it added, without going into further detail. At least 25 people including 18 attackers died during the assaults on a national guard base and firearms shops, and in the subsequent manhunt.

Link:http://indianexpress.com/article/wor...ained-2848751/

More details on the next two links and note:

...Aktobe, which is about 100 km (60 miles) from the Russian border...

Link:http://thewire.in/2016/06/09/kazakhs...d-video-41820/

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/0...105755961.html

**davidbfpo** · 07-18-2016

From the BBC:

A gunman who killed three policemen and a member of the public in Kazakhstan on Monday may have been an Islamist militant, the president has said.....Suspect Ruslan Kulikbayev, 26, became close to Salafists - ultra-conservative Muslims - when serving a prison sentence, security officials said.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36823422

**davidbfpo** · 03-06-2018

Spotted via Twitter:

Kazakhstan’s government is launching an ambitious strategy to combat religious extremist movements that have posed an imminent threat to the national security and are aimed at radicalizing and recruiting Kazakhstani youth into the ranks of international terrorist groups...Today, more than 600 Kazakhstanis are estimated to be participating in terrorist efforts (abroad).

Link:https://caspiannews.com/news-detail/...-2018-2-20-40/

**davidbfpo** · 03-26-2019

An IISS blog comment on the apparent exit of President Nazarbayev announced a week ago, he has been in power since 1989, but it is clear his exit is heavily qualified:

The transition has been carefully coordinated to allow Nazarbayev to retain influence on the political system and to ensure that the interests of his family are protected. As prescribed in the constitution, a new interim president – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the former chairman of the senate and a trusted ally of the president – will serve out the remainder of Nazarbayev’s current term in office. In July last year, parliament gave Nazarbayev the right to head the national security council for life and upgraded the status of the body from consultative to constitutional. Nazarbayev remains the leader of the Nur Otan Party, which controls the legislature.

Link:https://www.iiss.org/blogs/analysis/2019/03/kazakhstan?

The BBC News story:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47628854