Official Says Tbilisi Ready to Counter Provocations in Kodori

Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Mamuka Kudava said on October 19 that the Georgian side is ready to counter any possible provocations in upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia.

Georgian media sources reported that the Abkhaz side is reinforcing lower Kodori Gorge, which it controls, and is sending troops there.

?The units of the Interior Ministry currently deployed in upper Kodori Gorge are absolutely ready for any provocations. The most important thing is to avoid a complication of situation in the lower part of the gorge [which is controlled by the Abkhaz authorities],? Kudava told reporters.

He also described the recent monitoring carried out by the UN observers and Russian peacekeepers in upper Kodori Gorge as ?rather successful.?

?It [monitoring] confirmed that no Defense Ministry troops are deployed there,? the Deputy Defense Minister added.

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