ALMATY, January 12. /TASS/. One of the key objectives of the Armenian peacekeeping unit in Almaty was preventing the rampaging terrorists from poisoning the local water supply, the unit’s commander Major Ayrapet Mkrtchyan told journalists on Wednesday.

"One of the main tasks at the Druzhba water supply facility was the prevention of the water [supply] from being poisoned," he stated.

According to the commander, the water supply facility is a strategic object and quite possibly it could have been targeted for contamination by the terrorists.

In Almaty, in addition to the Druzhba waterworks, the Armenian peacekeepers are also guarding one of the largest bread factories.

According to the January 6, 2022 decision by the CSTO Collective Security Council, the bloc's collective peacekeeping forces were deployed to Kazakhstan for a limited time period in order to stabilize and normalize the situation. The contingent includes the armed forces of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, the main mission of the Russian units is to protect Almaty’s main strategic facilities.