ALMATY (Reuters – A Russia-led military bloc started pulling out its troops from Kazakhstan on Thursday, after a week-long deployment in Central Asia’s worst period of unrest since the post-Soviet era.

Last week, Kazakh President Kassym Jomart Tokayev sought assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. This was after peaceful protests sparked by a dramatic rise in petrol prices turned violent in large cities.

“Thanks for your arrival, Kazakh army and security forces were able o perform their immediate task of locating etaining bandsits,” Mukhamedzhan Talasov, Deputy Defense Minister from Kazakh, told CSTO soldiers at a departure ceremony held in Almaty, on Thursday. They stood together with their flags. Russians were the biggest.

While the Kazakh authorities declared the end of an “anti-terrorist” operation in the majority of the country Wednesday, the officials have not yet made Almaty their largest city fully safe.

Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary-of State expressed concern about the Russian deployment. This prompted an angry reaction from the Kremlin. Despite the international discussions this week, U.S. and Russian relations remain in crisis due to a Russian military presence near Ukraine.

Unknown how many of approximately 2,500 troops sent in by CSTO left immediately. Allies have stated that the withdrawal of all peacekeeping personnel would be completed in 10 days.

CSTO troops first served as guardians of the large power stations in Almaty. They were not near the centers of unrest but deployed to the government buildings of Nur-Sultan.

Nearly 10,000 protesters were detained by authorities over unrest that saw them attack security forces and capture and torch government buildings.

According to them, some attackers could have been foreigners trained in Islamist militants’ training. Tokayev stated that this justifies CSTO involvement, but he did not specify who these foreigners were. Some of his top security officers were later accused of treason. Tokayev has fired them.

Some Kazakhs agree with Blinken’s observation that Kazakhstan could have trouble getting rid Russian troops once they have been admitted. Tokayev stated that no foreign troops will remain in Kazakhstan after January 23.