The Georgian Foreign Ministry has expressed “deep concern” over “opening fire at Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili” from a GRAD missile system in the vicinity of Zemo Azhara village in upper Kodori Gorge.
But in a phone interview with Imedi television Vano Merabishvili did not say that he was a target of the attack.
“My presence there and the attack could have been just a coincidence. It was an attack against the residents of Kodori,” Merabishvili said.
He described the incident as a provocation.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry statement said that the shooting was a provocation, “which aims at escalating tensions in the conflict zone.”
“Moreover, we consider this incident as an attempt to implement the aggressive intentions of the Abkhaz side,” the statement reads.