Chechnya: Georgian citizen accused of recruiting locals into IS supporters

As reported by the Prosecutor's Office of Chechnya, law enforcers have suspected Beslan Tsintsalashvili, a 25-year-old citizen of Georgia, of persuading two residents of Chechnya to join the terrorist grouping named "Islamic State" (IS).

Investigators have established that Tsintsalashvili was legally present in Chechnya from July to August 2014. During this period he met several times in Grozny with two citizens, and, according to investigators, urged them to go to Syria to join illegal armed formations (IAFs) there.

Tsintsalashvili promised them to help in acquisition of foreign passports and travel from Georgia to Syria. Investigators have also found that in Syria the locals were invited to participate in the war against local authorities with the aim to "overthrow them and establish an extremist religious state."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in September 2013 it became known that militants from the regions of Northern Caucasus had formed a unit named "Al-Mukhadjirin" in the city of Aleppo in Northern Syria. It is headed by a Chechen named Abu Abdurakhman. Most members of the unit are experienced of fighting in the Caucasus.

On September 3, 2014, IS supporters posted a video, in which they threatened to start a war in the Caucasus and "liberate the Caucasus for the grace of Allah."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.