Tbilisi Says Attack on Police Post in Abkhazia ‘Provocation’

A pre-dawn attack on a Georgian police post in the village of Ganmukhuri on January 5 was a “well-planned provocation” and “terrorist act” that has once again proven the “inefficiency and ignorance” of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in the Abkhaz conflict zone, the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues said in a statement.

30-year old Georgian policeman Piruz Sharia was killed and another policeman injured when the police checkpoint was attacked by up to seven Abkhaz militiamen in the Georgian-controlled village of Ganmukhuri, which is located on the Abkhazian side of the Enguri river, the Georgian side says.

The Abkhaz side has denied the accusations and said that the Georgian policeman died in a skirmish with a Georgian criminal gang in the Zugdidi district.

“We call on the UN Observer Mission in Georgia [UNOMIG] to identify those behind the incident and we also demand [UNOMIG] to appropriately assess the actions of the de facto authorities in Sokhumi directed towards thwarting the peace process,” the statement issued by the Office of State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues said.

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