The Ukrainian State Security Service reported on November 15 that Ukrainian police, in partnership with Georgian counterparts, arrested Georgian national, one of the commanders of Islamic State, Al-Bara Shishani, the same as Tsezar Tokhosashvili near Kyiv.
In its statement, the Ukrainian State Security Service said that Tokhosashvili was the deputy of Omar Al-Shishani, the same as Tarkhan Batirashvili, leader of the Islamic State operating in Syria. Following the latter’s liquidation in 2016, Tokhosashvili left for Turkey.
According to the same information, in summer 2018, Tokhosashvili entered Ukraine with a fake passport, where he managed to coordinate the Islamic State units.
The Ukrainian State Security Service added that Tokhosashvili is presently kept in pre-extradition detention.
The Georgian State Security Service said that besides Tarkhan Batirashvili, Tsezar Tokhosashvili also had close relations with other leaders of the Islamic State, among them Islam Atabiev and Ahmed Chatayev. On November 6, 2019, Tbilisi City Court sentenced Tsezar Tokhosashvili to imprisonment in absentia.
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