Georgian MIA finds no recruiters of militants for war in Syria in Pankisi

Residents of the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia reported that local young villagers were recruited for war in Syria. In response to these complaints, Levan Izoriya, the deputy head of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), stated on April 27 that recruiters are outside Georgia. A participant of the warfare in Syria asserts that there are no representatives of the "Islamic State" (IS) in the territory of Georgia.

The Pankisi Gorge of Georgia has occurred in the focus of public attention after a few days ago, two teens from the village of Dumistari, aged 16 and 18, fled from their homes, according to their parents, aiming to get to Syria and take part in the war for the IS terrorist grouping.

According to local residents, there are groups acting in the Gorge, which promote participation in the warfare in Syria and recruit young people. Gela Mtivlishvili, a journalist from the Kakheti Information Centre, said that he had information on who and how organized the sending Pankisi residents to Syria. According to his story, on April 17, when he was questioned at the antiterrorist centre of the Georgian MIA, he gave them all the materials he had, the "News-Georgia" reports.

However, on April 27, the above Levan Izoriya, Deputy Interior Minister, stated that those recruiting young people in the villages of the Pankisi Gorge for the war in Syria are outside Georgia. He added, as quoted by the "Georgia-Online", that "a very intense operative work is underway with the aim to identify the recruiters of young people, who acted in the Pankisi Gorge."

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