Two Georgian citizens arrested for links with ISIS - security service

Georgian citizens arrested for links to ISIS

The counter-terrorism center of the state security service arrested two citizens of Georgia for ties to the Islamic State.

“The security service carried out a special operation simultaneously in two regions of Georgia. During the searches, electronic media, symbols of a terrorist organization, ammunition and explosive devices were seized,” the Georgian State Security Service said in a statement.

The SSS Counter-Terrorism Center launched an investigation under Articles 327 and 236 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. Operational-search measures are ongoing both to identify the nature of the participation of the detainees in the activities of the Islamic State terrorist organization, and to identify other persons involved.

On May 17 of this year, six people were detained in Georgia for links with the Islamic State. The State Security Service stated that they were planning terrorist attacks in other countries.

On April 22 of this year, the counter-terrorism center of the State Security Service of Georgia arrested Malkhaz Paksashvili, the leader of an Islamic State group and citizen of Georgia.

According to the State Security Service, Paksashvili left Georgia in 2013, went to Syria and joined the Islamic State terrorist organization.

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● In 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a global jihad and the establishment of a caliphate. The Islamic State controlled parts of the territories of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, as well as small territories in Libya, Nigeria, Afghanistan and North Africa.

● In 2015, several dozen young people left Chechnya to fight in Syria. One of the odious emirs of the Islamic State, Abu Umar ash-Shishani, aka Tarkhan Batirashvili, is from Pankisi. Because of this, the reputation of a hotbed of terrorism was firmly established behind the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia, which remains today. Although for several years now, people from the gorge have hardly appeared in reports related to the ISIS terrorist organization.

● On December 12, 2017, US President Donald Trump, when signing the country’s military budget, announced that the United States had finally defeated the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

● Later, the Pentagon explained that about 3,000 members of the Islamic State remained in Syria and Iraq, which is about ten times less than in 2015, when the Islamic State was developing and conquering new territories. According to the Pentagon, 60,000-70,000 terrorists have been killed, and even more have returned to their homeland.