NUR-SULTAN, Jan 10 — President Vladimir Putin said today that unrest in Kazakhstan had been exploited by destructive internal and external forces, and that the Russian-led CSTO military alliance would not allow other forces to destalibilise them.

He said the deployment of CSTO troops had prevented armed groups from undermining the basis of power in Kazakhstan and that they would be withdrawn once their mission was complete.

The events were not the first and would not be the last attempt to meddle in the region, he said, and the CSTO would not allow "colour revolutions” to take place, a reference to several revolutions in ex-Soviet countries over the last two decades. — Reuters