28 Dec 2017 14:40

Kazakh army's might to increase 1.5 times, special-ops forces' capacity to triple by 2020 - Nazarbayev

ASTANA. Dec 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev received the Defense Ministry's report on raising national defense capacity and combat preparedness of troops in 2017 at a meeting with the military command on Thursday, the presidential press service said in a statement.

Over the 25 years of its existence, the army has become a guarantor of Kazakhstan's territorial integrity, economic prosperity, and strengthening national authority, Nazarbayev said.

"This year, we approved the national security strategy, the military doctrine, and the Armed Forces' development concept which spelled out the areas and tasks of further advancement of the nation's defense organization. The fulfillment of these documents by 2020 is expected to increase the combat might of the army by 1.5 times thanks to the heightened combat potential of our troops. The capacity of special-operations forces will triple," the president said.

Nazarbayev further visited the command post of the cyber forces to familiarize himself with modern cyber defense capacities.

He gave a number of instructions pertaining to the Armed Forces' development after the meeting.