Georgian intelligence agencies announced the arrest of three ISIS members*
Three Georgian citizens involved in the terrorist organization Islamic State* have been detained in the Pankisi Gorge.
Pankisi is a poor region of Georgia, home to the Chechen Kist people. In recent decades, it has developed a dubious reputation as a closed terrorist haven, according to the article "Pankisi: Why Kist people don't trust the Georgian authorities and Kadyrov".
Three Georgian citizens involved in the terrorist organization Islamic State* have been detained in the Pankisi Gorge. Weapons, ammunition, and explosives were seized during a search, the State Security Service of Georgia reported today.
According to the agency, the detainees were engaged in ideological propaganda and attempted to create a "so-called jamaat" of militants in the Pankisi Gorge, recruiting new members into terrorist activities. To this end, they organized secret meetings, First Deputy Head of the State Security Service of Georgia Lasha Maghradze stated at a briefing.
A special operation to detain the suspects took place overnight in the villages of Omalo, Birkiani, and Jokolo. In addition to weapons, ammunition, and explosives, computers, mobile phones, electronic storage devices, an ISIS* flag, and other items bearing the symbols of the terrorist organization were also seized from the suspects.
According to the intelligence agency, the detainees received unspecified instructions from another country, Georgia Online reports. The Georgian Ministry of Justice is not yet releasing the names of those detained.
The investigation is under articles on participation in a foreign terrorist organization and illegal arms trafficking (Articles 328 and 236 of the Georgian Criminal Code). These charges carry sentences of 10 to 17 years in prison, according to the news agency "Novosti Gruzia."
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in September 2025, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced a Georgian citizen who was a member of the "Islamic State"* to 13 years in prison.
In August 2023, Tsiskar Tokhosashvili, known as Emir Isa, a native of the Pankisi Gorge, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on a similar charge. His brother, Tsezar Tokhosashvili, known in the "Islamic State"* as Al Bara Shishani, was convicted earlier and is also serving a sentence in Georgia. The Tokhosashvili brothers are from the village of Omalo. The prefix "ash-Shishani" in the names of those from Pankisi who fought in Syria indicates their origin (Chechens-Kistins); in translation from Arabic, it means "Chechen," according to the "Caucasian Knot" article "Natives of the Caucasus in the Ranks of ISIS (ISIL)*".
"Caucasian Knot" publishes on its thematic pages "The Road Home: to the Caucasus After ISIS*", "Syria in Fire" and "The Caucasus in the Caliphate's Crosshairs" materials on the impact of the war in the Middle East on the Caucasus regions.
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* is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.
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