Interior minister visits police officer injured in knife attack in Tbilisi

Georgia's Interior Minister Sulkhan Tamazashvili has visited a patrol inspector who was injured during a knife attack while on duty in central Tbilisi, the ministry's press service said.

Tamazashvili, accompanied by Patrol Police Department Director Levan Maisuradze, on Monday met Major Merab Kavtaradze in hospital and received an update from doctors on his condition.

The minister wished the officer a speedy recovery and thanked him for his bravery during the incident.

Kavtaradze and fellow police officer Major Giorgi Dzadzamia were on patrol in Tbilisi's Chugureti district when they spotted a man who had allegedly wounded another individual and was pursuing him with a knife.

The officers ordered the suspect to stop, but he ignored their instructions and attacked them with the weapon, the ministry said.

Despite the attack, the patrol officers detained the man, who was subsequently arrested as a suspect.