National Guard of Kazakhstan

The Internal Troops of Kazakhstan, which is the precursor to the present-day National Guard, was formed by order of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on January 10, 1992. On April 21, 2014, by a Presidential Decree, the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan were transformed into the National Guard of Kazakhstan.^[2][1][3] This was done as part of the government's new doctrine in relation to the armed forces that was adopted that year.^[4]

In June 2016, Islamic militants killed three people at a National Guard facility in Aktobe during an ambush.^[5] In September 2018, it was reported that the National Guard received the first 8 Shaanxi Y-8's from the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation.^[6]

The Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard (currently Major general Ansagan Baltabekov^[7]) is appointed and dismissed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is the seniormost post acting as the commanding officer of the entire branch, reporting to the president through the Minister of Internal Affairs. The assistant to the commander-in-chief and the head of all the headquarters directorates was known as the Chief of Staff.

• First Deputy Commander-in-Chief - Chief of Staff – Major general Aktanov K.M.^[8]
• Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard – Major general Matkarimov A.M.^[9]
• Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard for educational and social and legal work – Colonel Qayrat Umbetov.^[10]
• Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard for Equipment and Armament – Colonel Voronkin K.^[11]
• Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard for Logistics – Major general Omarkulov Zh.K.^[12]
• Secretary of the Military Council – Colonel Imirov S.K.^[13]

The branch of the National Guard focused on education is the Military Institute of the National Guard.^[24][25] It works to implement educational programmes of higher education and training future officers of the National Guard. It was founded as the Higher Military College of the Internal Troops by governmental decree on March 18, 1997. This date is today considered to be the official birthday of the institute. President Nazarbayev would present the school with its own ceremonial banner that December.^[26]

The Emblem of the National Guard consists of an image of the sun's rays with a silhouette of a floating eagle similar to the eagle on the national flag, covered with a blue stripe at the bottom and a silhouette of a horse rider with a flag pole in their hands. At the bottom, the words National Guard, written in the Kazakh language are in between the sun and the eagle. Regional commanders, formations and military units of the National Guard have standard their own battle flags, usually belonging to a particular regiment.

• 
  The troops of the National Guard during a parade in Astana in 2017.
• 
  Soldiers of the National Guard.
• 
  The Band of the National Guard of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
• 
  The band and the affiliated honour guard.

• Republican Guard (Kazakhstan)
• Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan
• Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan
• Internal Troops of Kazakhstan
• Military Police (Kazakhstan)