On December 8, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSS) reported that Tsiskara Tokhosashvili, a citizen of Georgia, had been detained on suspicion of associating with a foreign terrorist group and aiding in terrorism-related actions.
According to the State Security Service, Tsiskara Tokhosashvili, also known as "Emir Isa," traveled from Georgia to the Middle East in 2015 and enlisted with the Islamic State, a terrorist group. Additionally, it stated that Tokhosashvili had connections to other powerful officials and was regarded as a very significant individual by Islamic State militants. In Syria and Iraq, he actively took part in terrorist and combat activities. He oversaw one of the terrorist group's units in the conflict zone for a while, according to the State Security Service. Tokhosashvili faces charges that call for a sentence of ten to seventeen years in prison.
In September 2021, Caucasus Watch reported that several dozen residents of Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, predominantly inhabited by ethnic Chechens, took part in a "warning rally" outside the local office of the Georgian Interior Ministry in the village of Duisi. The attendees protested the "slander" and "illegal arrest" of five Kist Chechens during a special operation by the State Security Service of Georgia on August 24.
Read also:
Azerbaijan and Georgia in US State Department counter-terrorism report
Countries of the Caucasus in the Global Terrorism Index 2019
