KAZBAT

KAZBAT refers to a peacekeeping military unit in the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan. It is an airmobile brigade of the Kazakh Airmobile Forces. They are trained in accordance with NATO and United Nations standards and are therefore authroized to wear blue helmets while on duty and during parades.

The battalion was established on 31 January 2000 by decree of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and is responsible for conducting peacekeeping operations and humanitarian missions in foreign countries on behalf of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 2015, the Law "On Peacekeeping of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was adopted by the Parliament of Kazakhstan, defining the tasks and competencies of the state in regulating the participation of the country's peacekeeping operations around the world. All members of the battalion are fluent the English language, as well as various other international and regional languages like Russian and French. Other criteria include at least 5 years of service in the military, excellent physical shape and health and an age range of between 25 and 50 years old.

Activities
In 2003, Nazarbayev sent close to 300 KAZBAT peacekeepers to Iraq during the early stages of the Iraq War, where its personnel were responsible for destroying explosive mines. During this 5 year action under a NATO-led Multi-National Force – Iraq, an explosion occurred after over two dozen of Kazakh sappers accompanied by a Ukrainian back-up team set off two rigged aerial bombs while attempting to unload them from the transport vehicles Compared to the 8 deaths from the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade, the battalion suffered a sole fatality. . Following this event, the unit pulled out in 2008, three years after Ukrainian President Kuchma ordered the withdrawal of Ukrainian peacekeepers immediately after the incident.

Soldiers of the battalion have also been sent on peacekeeping missions led by the United Nations, including those in Lebanon (as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon  ), Afghanistan, Haiti, Western Sahara, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia. In the Lebanese contingent, a company of 120 personnel were part of the IndKazBat unit. The Ministry of Defence described the mission as one that "will help strengthen international security and demonstrates Kazakhstan’s position as a responsible member of the international community". It has also participated in many joibt exercises with other peacekeeping units and military ubuts such as the Arizona Army National Guard.

Since 2002, the unit has hosted the joint tactical peacekeeping exercise "Steppe Eagle" in Kazakhstan, during which it operates within a multinational force under a unified NATO-led command. The battaluon annually sends at least a dozen soldiers to the United Kingdom to attend the British Armed Forces Training Establishment for Peace Support Operations in the region.

In 2019, a film directed by Askar Uzabaev was released called The KAZBAT Soldiers, which depicted a border skirmish during a peacekeeping operation in Tajikistan during their civil war when 17 members of the battalion's predecessor unit were killed in fighting with Islamic rebels. The film was primarily aired on the Qazaqstan state media channel.