Georgia's State Security Service spokesman Nino Giorgobiano on Friday confirmed Chechen double-amputee Akhmed Chatayev, suspected of organizing a deadly attack at Istanbul's airport in 2016, was killed in a counterterrorism operation last week on the outskirts of the Georgian capital.

"As a result of a 20-hour special operation, two members of the criminal group were killed, whereas one individual, Akhmed Chatayev who was staying in the flat, blew himself up," Giorgobiano said.

Read more: Chatayev — The man behind the terror attack at Istanbul's airport

"[Chatayev's] identity has been confirmed as a result of an investigation and the analysis of DNA and fingerprints carried out with the help of our colleagues from the United States."

In June 2016, three men launched an attack at Istanbul's main airport, killing 46 people and wounding 200 others before detonating suicide vests strapped with explosives.

Chatayev received asylum in Austria in 2003 after fleeing Russia for his involvement in the second Chechen war

'One-armed' warlord

In the wake of the attack, authorities in Turkey and the US, including Turkish intelligence and an American lawmaker, said Chatayev was behind the attack, and even organized living arrangements for the bombers in Istanbul in the run-up to the operation.

Chatayev earned the nickname of the "one-armed warlord" before later losing a leg as well. He received asylum in Austria in 2003 after Russian authorities pursued him for his involvement in the second Chechen war at the turn of the century.

Read more: Opinion — Fighting terror with rights and freedom

He was arrested in Sweden in 2008 and spent a year in prison for possession of a weapon discovered in a vehicle he shared with other Chechens. He was long considered an important recruiter for extremists in Europe by intelligence agencies across the continent.

In 2015, he was placed on a terror black list by the UN Security Council and US Treasury for suspected ties to the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group and al Qaeda. While no group claimed responsibility for the Istanbul attack, Turkish authorities have blamed it on IS

Germany's biggest Islamist trials Failed Bonn bomb The blue bag left on the platform at Bonn's central station in 2012 contained explosives that did not go off, but a city-wide manhunt unfolded. Marco G. was eventually arrested and charged with planting the bomb. Three others are charged with plotting to assassinate a politician from the far-right PRO-NRW party. Their group allegedly drew inspration from an Islamist movement in Uzbekistan.

Germany's biggest Islamist trials Frankfurt airport bus attack In March 2011, Arid Uka shot dead two US servicemen waiting for a bus at Frankfurt airport prior to deployment in Afghanistan. "This is indeed the first Islamic-motivated terror strike to have happened in Germany," the judge said, adding Uka had sought revenge for military operations in Afghanistan. Uka, born in Kosovo, acted alone and was sentenced to life in prison in February 2012.

Germany's biggest Islamist trials The Sauerland Cell The "Sauerland Cell" was a German cell of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a terrorist group on the Pakistani-Afghan border. The four German and Turkish men had planned large-scale bomb attacks against American targets in Germany from their base in the western region of the Sauerland. Arrested in September 2007, they were sentenced in March 2010 for up to 12 years.

Germany's biggest Islamist trials Sharia Police Sven Lau, a Salafist Muslim, was the man behind a well-known Islamist publicity stunt. In 2014, Lau led several men around the city of Wuppertal in orange security vests labeled "Sharia police." Acting as state authorities, they warned people visiting local clubs and bars to adhere to Sharia, or Islamic law. He is currently on trial for backing a terror group fighting in Syria.

Germany's biggest Islamist trials Big mouth Nils D., a Salafist from Dinslaken, joined the "Islamic State" in Syria in October 2013. He tracked down the group's deserters - armed with explosives and guns. He returned to Germany a year later, and boastful statements about his time in Syria eventually got him arrested. He confessed the names of other German Islamic extremists and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.

Germany's biggest Islamist trials "Biggest mistake of my life" On the final day of Harry S.'s July 2016 trial, he said "going to Syria was the biggest mistake of my life." The Bremen-born Muslim convert spent three months with "Islamic State" in Syria in 2015. He wanted out after civilians were murdered for a short recruitment film he helped make. He was sentenced to three years in jail for being part of a foreign terrorist organization.



ls/msh (dpa, AFP)