Abkhaz Defense Minister Speaks of Priorities

In an interview with Interfax news agency, Abkhaz Defense Minister Viacheslav Eshba outlined priorities of the Abkhaz army for 2005, saying that combat readiness of the Abkhaz troops ?to repel possible foreign aggression? will be the number one priority this year.
 
?We have already launched an inspection of our combat readiness in all the military units in Abkhazia,? Eshba said.

He said that another priority will be training reserve forces and increasing the of number of the armed forces. However, he refused to unveil how many servicemen will be in the Abkhaz forces after this supposed increase. ?It is secret,? he added.

According to Interfax, the current number of troops in the Abkhaz armed forces is 5,000. The number of reserve forces reaches 18,000.