5 arrested for planning to blow up Georgian gasoduct

Five persons were arrested over suspicion of blowing up a gas pipeline here, the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) announced on Monday.

According to the SSS, the five Georgian citizens were arrested on Saturday as they were retrieving explosives and arms from a hidden weapons cache, Efe news reported.

"One of the arrested was a frequent traveller to Ukraine, but for now it is impossible to know if the group received any foreign orders," said the official statement.

Apart from the suspected terrorists, who had been shadowed for months by the SSS, another two arrests were made, including a Georgian police officer who was allegedly aware of the attack and did not inform authorities.

A map found on the computer of one of the suspects indicated that the group planned to blown up the gas pipeline in the sector where it crosses the Aragvi river, north of Tbilisi,

The targeted pipeline crosses Georgia to supply Armenia with Russian gas. In 2015, Armenia received 1.92 billion cubic metres (2.51 billion cubic yards) of Russian gas through the pipeline.

--IANS

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