Moscow Blames Georgian ‘Saboteurs’ for Abkhaz Clash

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the Abkhaz forces were attacked by “the Georgian squad of saboteurs” on September 20.

“The attack,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on September 21, “was carried out on the Abkhaz Interior Ministry’s anti-terrorist unit’s base close to Tkvarcheli.”

It said that “a serious armed clash in a hotspot is a source of deep concern for the Russian Foreign Ministry.”

Two Abkhaz militiamen were killed, two injured and seven others captured after the clash on September 20, according to the Georgian Interior Ministry. Authorities in Sokhumi have alleged that casualties were among the Georgian personnel; officials in Tbilisi, however, deny it.

By this statement, Russia backed Sokhumi’s version of the September 20 events. Tbilisi, however, claims that the Abkhaz “squad of saboteurs” infiltrated on its controlled territory for reconnaissance mission with an eventual goal to sabotage constructing road, linking upper Kodori Gorge with Georgia proper.

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