Death of Civilian Confirmed, Warlord Escapes

Officials confirmed the death of one civilian following a bomb attack by army helicopters on the village of Chkhalta, where rebel warlord Emzar Kvitsiani and his militiamen were based overnight on July 27.

Kvitsiani himself escaped the village, and law enforcers are now trying to hunt him down, Giorgi Arveladze, chief of the Georgian President?s Administration, said at a news conference in Tbilisi at about 2 pm on July 27.

But he also said that ?the major part of the anti-criminal operation has been successfully completed.?

?All of the villages of the gorge have been cleared of criminals; all of the settlements in the gorge have been freed from bandits,? Arveladze said.

He also said a ?large number? of weapons have been seized, including IGLA and STRELA anti-aircraft missile systems.

Arveladze added that ?several criminals? have been captured and ?most of them have surrendered their arms.?

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