Sokhumi Denies Deployment of Additional Troops in Gali

Abkhaz Deputy Defense Minister Gari Kupalba rejected the Georgian side?s allegations that the Abkhaz deployed additional armed troops to the villages of the lower Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia, Apsnypress news agency reported on August 11.

Kupalba said that currently, only Abkhaz law enforcers are stationed in the Gali district. He added that their numbers do not exceed the defined amount.

?The Gali district is a part of the security zone. So, armed forces should not be deployed there, as defined by the 1994 Moscow Agreement on Ceasefire and Separation of Forces,? Apsnypress quoted Kupalba as saying.

Meanwhile, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba said on August 11 that Abkhazia will continue to strengthen its forces as long as there is a threat of war from Georgia.

?We will deploy our forces anywhere, because Georgia violated the Moscow Agreement long ago… By constantly violating the existing agreements, Georgia is making Abkhazia strengthen its forces, including in the Gali district, in order to prevent the launch of wide-scale armed actions,? Apsnypress quoted Shamba as saying.

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