There is tension around Chechen families in Pankisi Gorge, Georgia, Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the antiterrorism headquarters in the North Caucasus said. "Recently citizens who visited relatives in Georgia have informed Chechen law enforcement agencies about the tense situation developing with regard to the Chechen families that moved to Pankisi Gorge in Georgia," he said. According to him, the followers of Wahhabism have started to aggressively propagandize in the villages in Pankisi Gorge. "They use the intimidation and physical threats," he said.
| That's their style, isn't it? |
Local inhabitants say that Wahhabis, who are practically all armed, mainly spread extremist propaganda to young people. They have widely bribed people with small sums for only formally joining the Wahhabi community or going to a sermon, he said. The Wahhabis morally influence unmarried women. "Women are forced to become a second or third wife of a Wahhabi," he said. |