Defense Ministry Denies Dispatching Troops to Pankisi

(Tbilisi, January 18, Civil Georgia) – On January 18 Georgian Defense Ministry denied reports by the Russian media that Georgian army units were dispatched to the criminal-ridden Pankisi gorge.

At the moment only police and the internal troops subordinated to the Georgia Internal Affairs Ministry are deployed in the gorge to pass special operation to crackdown criminals harboring in Pankisi.

Internal Affairs Ministry reported on January 18 that no accidents occurred since the operation started on January 14.