Georgia's state security service confirmed on Friday that a Daesh terrorist suspected of masterminding a deadly attack on Atatürk Airport in 2016 was killed during a special operation in the country last week.
"It's confirmed that one of those killed during the operation is Akhmed Chatayev," spokeswoman for Georgia's state security service Nino Giorgobiani told a briefing.
One Georgian special forces serviceman and three members of the terror group were killed in the operation. Four police officers were wounded and one member of the group was arrested.
The 20-hour operation took place at an apartment block on the outskirts of Georgian capital Tbilisi last week.
Chatayev is thought to be one of the suspects linked to the deadly bombing, which killed 45 people last year. He reportedly found accommodation for the bombers.
The terrorist allegedly illegally crossed the border to Georgia and had been living in a flat registered under another Chechen national named Aslanpek Jebrailov.
Turkey has been targeted by a wave of deadly Daesh attacks since 2015 and more than 5,000 Daesh suspects have been deported in recent years, along with 3,290 foreign terrorists from 95 countries, amid Turkish attempts to dismantle terrorist cells and safe houses providing logistical assistance to the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq and to thwart attacks being plotted inside the country.
