A Georgian opposition leader and former cabinet minister underwent surgery for a second time on February 28, just 48 hours after he was beaten and shot while visiting a Tbilisi cemetery.

A Georgian opposition leader and former cabinet minister underwent surgery on February 28, just 48 hours after he was beaten and shot while visiting a Tbilisi cemetery.

Aleksi Petriashvili, leader of the Free Democrat party, was targeted by an unspecified number of attackers on February 26.

The 45-year-old Petriashvili, who served as minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration from 2012 to 2014, said the gunmen insulted him before their attack.

Petriashvili was minister for European integration until he resigned in late 2014 to protest the removal of his colleague Irakli Alasania as defense minister.

Petriashvili's wife, Ekaterine Mishveladze, said he suffered three gunshot wounds – one in each leg and one in his stomach.

She described the attack as a failed assassination attempt.

Georgia's Rustavi-2 TV channel reports that the attack was witnessed by former deputy Health Minister Kakha Sakandelidze, who was visiting the cemetery together with Petriashvili.

Georgia's Interior Ministry has opened a criminal investigation into the shooting.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, Interfax, TASS, and Rustavi-2

