Resident of Pankisi Gorge killed in Syria identified as son of IS Minister of Justice

Relatives of Sultan Gumashvili, a 21-year-old resident of the Pankisi Gorge, have confirmed the information about his death in Syria. The Sultan Gumashvili's father holds the position of the Minister of Justice at the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS), banned in the Russian Federation. This was reported by Georgian political analysts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Sultan Gumashvili, a 21-year-old resident of the village of Dumasturi in the Pankisi Gorge, was killed in Syria, while taking part in the combat actions on the side of the IS.

According to Gela Mtivlishvili, an editor of the Kakheti Information Centre, the Sultan Gumashvili's grandfather was Suleiman Gumashvili, a Kist poet and writer.

In turn, Mamuka Areshidze, the director of the Institute for Strategic Studies of the Caucasus, has reported that Sultan Gumashvili "left for Syria in 2013, when he was 18 year old, together with his father Adam (Guram) Gumashvili."

Mamuka Areshidze has said that "the Gumashvili family is very influential in the Pankisi Gorge."

According to expert Nino Burchuladze, Ruslan Tokhosashvili and Adam (Guram) Gumashvili are considered to be close associates of leaders of the IS armed groupings.

Mamuka Areshidze, the director of the Institute for Strategic Studies of the Caucasus, has noted that "residents of the Pankisi Gorge stopped leaving for Syria."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.