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The Russia Journal
April 12, 2002

Two peacekeepers injured in Abkhazia 

-...Abkhazian [authorities]fear that the newly trained
Georgian troops could be unleashed against their
territory.

TBILISI (Associated Press)- Two members of the
Russian-led peacekeeping force were injured in a mine
explosion as they patrolled the border area between
Georgia and its breakaway republic of Abkhazia,
Russian news agencies reported Thursday. 

The peacekeepers, an officer and a sergeant, were
patrolling a part of the disputed Kodori Gorge
controlled by Georgian forces, the Interfax and
ITAR-Tass news agencies reported, quoting unnamed
sources. The extent of their injuries was not
immediately clear. Both were transported by helicopter
to the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi for treatment, the
reports said. 

U.N. and Russian peacekeepers also spotted abandoned
artillery weaponry during a joint patrol in Abkhazia
earlier this week, the U.N. mission in Tbilisi said
Thursday. The patrols will continue to monitor the
weaponry to see that it doesn't fall into the hands of
either Georgian or Abkhaz forces, the U.N. statement
said. 

Abkhazia, a lush province on the Black Sea, won de
facto independence in 1993 after a two-year war
against Georgian forces. Some 300,000 Georgians fled
Abkhazia and the region has remained tense for much of
the past decade, with frequent shootings and
explosions. 

Tensions have risen even more following the recent
announcement that U.S. military instructors would
launch a program to train Georgian troops in
anti-terrorist techniques. 

Though the program is intended to help Georgia fight
alleged terrorists in its lawless Pankisi Gorge region
on the border with Russia's breakaway republic of
Chechnya, Abkhazian separatists fear that the newly
trained Georgian troops could be unleashed against
their territory. /The Associated Press/
 


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