Police Clash with ‘Smugglers’ in Azeri-Populated Kvemo Kartli

A clash occurred between the Financial Police and a group of local residents of Vakhtangisi village in the Kvemo Kartli region after the police seized goods, which allegedly was smuggled from neighboring Azerbaijan, on January 19.

This is a second case of incident of this kind in the region, which is predominately populated by the ethnic Azerbaijanis, for past two months.

Last December, the Financial Police, together with the Interior Ministry’s special purpose forces, raided the village of Vakhtangisi and seized a large number of goods from the local villagers, which, according to the authorities, was smuggled from Azerbaijan. The police raid triggered protest by the local Azeri population.

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