From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2001 04:45:34 -0700 (PDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: War In The Caucasus? [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- Tuesday October 9, 5:06 PM High tension in Georgia, Abkhazia after bombing raids, clashes TBILISI, Oct 9 (AFP) - Helicopters and planes bombed villages on the "border" between Georgia and its breakaway republic of Abkhazia Tuesday amid rebel clashes and claims that Russia was responsible for the air strikes. The head of Abkhaz security forces, Raul Khadzhimba, accused Georgia of launching attacks on several villages in Gulripshsky region of Abkhazia that have recently been invaded by Chechen rebels and partisans loyal to the government in Tbilisi. "Georgian air force's combat planes" had launched a wave of strikes that killed or wounded several local people, Khadzhimba said, adding the bombardments were aimed at helping the rebels tighten control over the villages. But Georgia's defence ministry "categorically" denied that Tbilisi was behind the air attacks, and hit back with counter claims that unidentified helicopters and planes had bombed Georgian villages near the border. Abkhazia has claimed de facto independence from the rest of Georgia since 1993 after fighting a war in the early 1990s in which the separatists were supported by Moscow. Colonel Mikhail Zhavanadze, deputy chief of Georgia's air force, told AFP on Tuesday he believed Russian planes had targeted the Georgian side of the border. Unmarked aircraft dropped bombs on the Georgian villages of Lata, Chkhalta and Omarishari, a spokesman for the Georgian border guard told AFP. "Not a single one of our planes was flying at this time," Zhavanadze said. "My deep conviction is that these were Russian combat planes." Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said Moscow was "closely following" the spiral of violence in Abkhazia. The air strikes occurred hours after a rebel attack on the village of Naa in the disputed region, which had left 14 locals killed. Nine people, including five UN observers and their interpreter, were reported to have been killed Monday by rebels who shot down their helicopter over Abkhazia's Kodori gorge, which is under rebel control. Meanwhile, Georgian partisan leader David Shengeliya warned Tuesday that his anti-Abkhazian resistance forces, backed by Chechen rebels, were now strong enough to seize the republic's capital Sukhumi. "Fighters from the North Caucasus form the backbone of this force. They want to punish the Abkhazians for their betrayal and active cooperation with Russia," he told Interfax. Georgian partisans had captured the village of Machara, six kilometres (four miles) from Sukhumi, Shengeliya said. Senior Abkhaz officials announced that Sukhumi would issue a general mobilisation decree Tuesday to repel a "massive invasion... from Georgia of hundreds of Chechen, Georgian and Arab terrorists." Around 3,000 Russian troops are stationed in Abkhazia as part of a peacekeeping force sent by the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose grouping of former Soviet republics. Georgia is home to several thousand Chechen rebels and refugees who have fled the fighting in the neighbouring southern Russian republic. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? NEW from Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1 ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spXC Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
