State Security Service: Georgia receives anonymous reports about bombs

Georgia has received anonymous reports about bombs.

The Georgian State Security Service stated that anonymous reports about bombs planted in various places in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi (Adjara) were received from abroad. The mobile phone number of a minor Georgian citizen was deliberately indicated, Caliber.Az reports citing the Georgian media.

Visitors and employees of several Batumi shopping centres such as “Batumi Mall”, “Grand Mall”, “Metro Mall” and “Batumi Plaza” were urgently evacuated on January 21 due to an anonymous report about a bomb. Batumi-Istanbul flight had to be postponed for two hours at the Batumi International Airport on January 20. An anonymous message was also sent to public school #8 in Batumi.

Proceeding from the received information, the counter-terrorism agencies of the Georgian State Security Service and the Interior Ministry took special measures in Batumi shopping centres and educational institutions, where no explosives were found, the State Security Service.

“While analysing the operational data, the information about explosive devices was obtained from abroad, however, the mobile phone number used by a minor citizen of Georgia was deliberately indicated,” the State Security Service said.

The State Security Service filed a criminal case on the false information about terrorism. The agencies of partner countries were notified as part of the ongoing operational and investigative measures to identify the initiator of the messages.

Moreover, the State Security Service also reported that false reports about terrorist attacks in the Galleria Tbilisi shopping centre on December 30, 2023 and January 17, 2024 were also received from abroad, and they were associated with international network games in which minors from different countries, including Georgia, participate.

According to the State Security Service, some individuals abroad have also been identified as the initiators of these messages. The special measures were taken. The investigation is being conducted by the Counter-Terrorism Centre of the Georgian State Security Service.