TV: Four of Six Captured in Kodori are Russians

Rustavi 2 TV reported that four of the six militiamen captured by Georgian forces after a clash in Kodori Gorge on September 20 are Russians and two ethnic Abkhazians.

The TV station also reported that one of the two killed in the clash was also Russian.

The Georgian Interior Ministry, which is holding six prisoners in the town of Zugdidi, close to breakaway Abkhazia, has yet to comment on the report.

The Georgian side claims that an Interior Ministry special purpose unit discovered  and attacked a group of saboteurs in the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge. The group, it said, had planned to destroy a major road in the region which is currently under construction.

The Abkhaz side, however, said an Abkhaz border guard training camp had been attacked by armed Georgians in the Tkvarcheli district.

Meanwhile,the Georgian foreign minister, Gela Bezhuashvili, has called on the Abkhaz side to immediately resume bilateral talks to defuse the tension. ?It is obvious a third party is trying to prevent dialogue,? he said.

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