Abkhazia Army to Call Up Ethnic Georgians

The Defense Ministry of breakaway Abkhazia announced that at least 20 ethnic Georgians from the Gali district will be called up in the army during the autumn draft, Interfax news agency reported on November 3.

Deputy Defense Minister of the unrecognized republic Anatoly Zaytsev said that the Abkhaz leadership asked the Defense Ministry to be ?delicate? in the process of conscription in order to observe the interests of the local Georgian population.

But Georgian media has been reporting in recent days about raids of the Abkhaz militias in the Georgian villages of the Gali district. The Abkhaz armed groups were intimidating and forcing local youth to serve in the Abkhaz army, according to the Georgian media reports.

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