Two Georgian citizens arrested over Islamic State links

Two Georgian citizens have been arrested on suspicion of joining the Islamic State and assisting terrorist activities, Georgia’s State Security Service said on Friday.

The arrests were carried out by officers from the agency’s Counter-Terrorism Centre during special operations in the Gardabani and Kareli municipalities, based on a court order.

The investigation established that the two suspects had joined the Islamic State, pledged allegiance to its leader through a so-called bay’ah oath and expressed unconditional loyalty to the organisation’s leadership.

During searches of the suspects and their homes, investigators seized a handwritten text of the bay’ah oath to the Islamic State leader, a seal bearing an Islamic inscription, various types of ammunition, a hand grenade, a detonator and electronic storage devices.

The offence carries a prison sentence of between 10 and 17 years.