Georgia Says It Killed Suspect In 2016 Istanbul Airport Bombing

Akhmed Chatayev was released on bail in Georgia in December 2012.

Akhmed Chatayev was released on bail in Georgia in December 2012.

The Georgian authorities have identified one of the gunmen killed in a recent counterterrorism operation as a suspect in a suicide bombing in Turkey last year.

The Georgian State Security Service said in a statement on December 1 that it had identified the gunman who blew himself up as Akhmed Chatayev.

Turkish officials have named Chatayev, a Chechen extremist known to be a senior member of the Islamic State militant group, as a possible organizer of the suicide bombing at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that killed 45 people in June 2016.

One member of Georgia's special forces and three gunmen died in the 20-hour counterterrorism operation in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on November 21-22.

Georgian authorities said they were investigating to see how the men had crossed the border into Georgia.

With reporting by AP and Reuters