Georgia’s state security service prevents assassination of Israeli citizen

The Georgian state security service on Tuesday said its counterintelligence department had prevented the assassination of an Israeli citizen in the country by a group involving individuals with Pakistani and dual Georgian-Iranian citizenships, who have been arrested. 

The agency said it had also identified the person who had ordered the crime - reportedly an Iranian national living abroad - and their accomplices, and noted “complex operational and search measures” were in progress over the case. 

Providing details, the body said a Pakistani citizen had been sent to Georgia by the criminal group to assassinate the Israeli national after having been instructed on the task and provided “all necessary information” about the person in question.  

The service also said the designated assassin had arrived in Georgia via a third country and arrived at a rented apartment equipped with devices for facilitating the conspiracy, adding the individual had studied routes of their target while remaining in “constant contact” with the group and receiving instructions and money for accomplishing the task.

Organisers had also issued instructions to the dual Iranian-Georgian citizenship in Georgia with the goal of providing the intended killer with weapons, the body noted, adding there had been no in-person meetings between the Pakistani citizen and the rest of the group with the aim of ensuring secrecy for the operation, while the transfer of firearms and ammunition was carried out using hideouts arranged in locations in the country.

The firearms and ammunition have been seized as a result of investigative actions and searches conducted against suspects in Georgia, with phones used in the operation and other evidence also obtained by law enforcement. The agency said its investigation was still in progress to identify other participants and details in the case.