Georgian officials commemorate “heroic” death of officer in counter-terrorism operation

Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and Grigol Liluashvili, the Head of the State Security Service, on Wednesday honoured the memory of Ivane Golashvili, an Officer of the Special Operation Forces, who had been killed during a 22-hour-long counter-terrorism operation six years ago on Gabriel Salosi Street in Tbilisi.

Golashvili was posthumously awarded the Vakhtang Gorgasali First Degree Medal and the Security Service’s Medal for Bravery in 2018.

The Islamic State-linked counter-terrorist operation saw two suspects killed, while Russian citizen of Chechen origin, Ahmed Chataev exploded himself, who was named as “a mastermind” of the deadly terrorist attack on the Ataturk Airport in 2016 in Turkey, claiming 48 lives and injuring more than 230.

The suspected terrorists were planning to attack diplomatic missions in Georgia and Turkey, which was confirmed by the evidence seized during the operation, including audio recordings that proved they were planning terrorist attacks in the two countries.

• Suspected terrorists killed in Tbilisi operation had planned attacks on diplomatic missions in Georgia, Turkey

The only surviving suspect of a large-scale operation, which was carried out in the scope of international counter-terrorist cooperation, was charged with terrorist activities, while the SSS also arrested five individuals, a few months after the operation, for charges related to financing terrorism, provision of other material support and resources to terrorist activities.