The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) arrested 6 Georgian citizens on charges of collaborating with a terrorist organization - Islamic State. According to the statement by the Acting Director of the SSSG counter-terrorism branch, Bacha Mgeladze, detainees had links with one of the influential leaders of the Islamic State and were planning various acts of terrorism in multiple countries under his leadership.
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The counterterrorism operation has been simultaneously carried out on four sites. According to Mgeladze, symbolic of the terrorist organization, electronic data devices, ammunition, explosive materials, and various important pieces of evidence have been seized as a result of investigative activities.
“In the course of the given investigation, Counterterrorism Center uncovered certain terrorist activities in different countries based on the obtained evidence and due to increased threat, promptly shared intelligence with partner states. As part of the same case, criminal prosecution has begun against a foreign citizen, who has been placed in temporary accommodation in the migration department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” stated Mgeladze.
Counterterrorism Center is investigating the case under Articles 328 and 236 of the Criminal Code, which stands for joining a foreign terrorist organization, aiding in terrorist activity, and illegal acquisition and storage of firearms, ammunition, and explosives.
At the turn of May, several Turkish media outlets wrote that the Islamic State founded a new chain in Turkey, which also operates in Georgia and Azerbaijan. According to the state news agency Anadolu, the members of the “Jihad group”, which formed as a result of propaganda activities, conducted military training in Georgia, after which they were dispatched to conflict zones and worked in Syria and Georgia. 74 suspects were arrested as a result of a joint anti-terrorism operation conducted simultaneously in 23 provinces by the Turkish police and the National Intelligence Organization. SSSG denied that the followers of the terrorist organization underwent training in Georgia.
