Security services investigating 'foreign trace' in Kazakh riots - state secretary

NUR-SULTAN. Jan 19 (Interfax) - Kazakh security services are investigating the possible involvement of foreigners in the January riots, Kazakh State Secretary Yerlan Karin said.

"Security services are continuing to pursue this line of investigation. It is already known that a number of foreign citizens simultaneously arrived in our country after December 20 and tried to leave it by different routes on January 7 and 8," Karin said on the Khabar 24 state-run television channel in response to a question about "foreign trace" in the mass unrest.

"Our security services have also established facts of participation of members of certain radical, extremist networks operating in our country in the recent events. Kazakh radicals from foreign terrorist networks have tried to use the events for unleashing new attacks," he said.

The situation "is extremely serious," Karin said.

"Security services are working to identify and detain such persons and to seize weapons. In the recent days alone, our law enforcement agencies have seized over 2,000 pieces of weapons," he said.

The state of emergency was lifted in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, yet antiterrorist operations are continuing in a number of regions and work is being done "to uncover and suppress radical cells and terrorists," Karin said.