| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Abkhaz rebels take Georgian villages |
| 2008-08-17 |
| Georgia's Foreign Ministry claims rebels from the breakaway province of Abkhazia have gained control over 13 villages in Georgia proper. A statement released by the foreign ministry said armed Abkhazian militias on Saturday seized two villages in the Zugdidi region, 11 villages in the Tsalenjikha region and territory of the Enguri Hydropower plant, AFP reported. Independent sources or Abkhaz officials were not immediately available to confirm the report. The power plant and most of the villages are placed in a buffer zone, which was established following a 1994 UN ceasefire resolution. The buffer zone covers an area between Georgia's Zugdidi region and Abkhazia's Gali region. It also includes a narrow mountainous strip between Abkhazian territory and the Inguri River. Georgia's claims come as Russia pulled back its troops from the center of the town of Igoeti, about 40 km (25 miles) from Tbilisi. Earlier on Saturday Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev signed a French-brokered peace plan, already signed by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, to end hostilities in region. Later in the day, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that Moscow has no specified timetable for the full withdrawal of its troops from Georgian conflict zones due to the instability in the region. "We are constantly encountering various problems with the Georgian side and it will depend how quickly and effectively this problem will be solved," he said. The Russia-Georgia conflict erupted last Friday after Georgia launched a major offensive against its other breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia, the main ally of South Ossetia, responded by sending in armed convoys and military combat aircraft. Moscow accuses Tbilisi of genocide against ethnic Ossetians, most of whom hold Russian citizenship. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 http://russiangeorgianwar.blogspot.com/ http://armthepeasants.blogspot.com/ http://registan.net/ |
| Posted by: newc 2008-08-17 10:47 |
| #1 I don't understand what is going on. Like the Bosnian conflict, it seems that the MSM is making an effort to "cleanse" their wording so as to make sure that we have no clue as to why one side is angry with the other. The power plant and most villages were placed in a buffer zone established in 1994 UN ceasefire. Ok. But wtf is going on now? Sooo, do these Abkhazian militias represent the will the people in a "breakaway province" or are they just Russian funded militants creating havoc? The Russia-Georgia conflict erupted last Friday after Georgia launched a major offensive against its other breakaway province of South Ossetia. Huh? Russia has obviously been planning this invasion for some time. Nobody just invades on a whim. Did the Georgians launch a major offensive against Ossetia last Friday? What did they do? It's very confusing. I hope the blogs will do a better job of letting us understand the conflicts than the MSM did on the Kosovo/Bosnian ones. I still haven't got a clue what really happened there. |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-17 08:37 |