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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |||
| Georgia says Russian helicopters attacked gorge | |||
| 2007-03-12 | |||
TBILISI, March 12 (Reuters) - Georgia said on Monday three Russian helicopters had attacked a disputed gorge under Georgian control in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, an incident likely to worsen tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi. Russia's air force denied the reports.
Russian helicopters late on Sunday fired on the upper Kodori gorge, the de facto border between Abkhazia and Georgia, Shota Khizanishvili, chief-of-staff at the Georgian interior ministry, told Reuters. "Three helicopters bombed the gorge for a half an hour. They were Russian helicopters. There are no victims, but several buildings were partly destroyed," Khizanishvili said. Russia's air force called the Georgian announcement a "provocative act", RIA news agency reported. A source in the pro-Tbilisi administration in the gorge said two villages were also attacked with rockets from Abkhazia. "These two actions took place at the same time. We are dealing with a co-ordinated action from Russia and the Abkhazian separatists -- there is no other way to explain how these actions happened simultaneously," the source said. Abkhazian separatist officials said they had no information about the incident. Georgia's army and air force were put on alert after the raid, Deputy Defence Minister Levan Nikoleishvili said. A Georgian helicopter crashed, killing the servicemen, after being scrambled, he said. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili plans to return early from Kazakhstan, where he made a stopover after an official visit to Japan, his press service said. Relations between Tbilisi and former Soviet master Moscow have been severely strained by a spying row, trade disputes and the ambitions of Georgian leaders to join NATO and the European Union. And on the other side: MOSCOW, March 12 (RIA Novosti) - Shelling early Monday in the Kodori Gorge, the de facto border between Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia, was the result of an incursion by Georgian troops into the area, a senior Russian diplomat said Monday.
"The incident in the Kodori Gorge can only be qualified as the logical result of last year's escalation of the situation there and the incursion of Georgian troops and the deployment of the Abkhazian 'government in exile' in the area," Mikhail Kamynin said. The Russian Air Force has denied the reports, calling them a mere provocation. "The report by Georgian authorities alleging that a part of the Kodori Gorge, where the villages of Azhara, Gentsvishi and Chkhalta are located, came under attack by a helicopter that presumably flew from Russia, is nothing but a pure provocation," Air Force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said. It is not the first time Georgia has accused Russia and the breakaway republic of Abkhazia of violating a ceasefire agreement signed to end a bloody war that broke out after the separatist region proclaimed its independence in the early 1990s. Abkhazia has not been recognized as a sovereign state either by Tbilisi or by the international community. Moscow supports the self-proclaimed republic's bid for independence, and has said that if the United Nations grants full sovereignty to the Serbian province of Kosovo, it should treat Abkhazia the same way. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Monday that any attack on upper Abkhazia, where the Georgian military has been deployed since the summer of 2006, would be regarded as an attack on Georgia. "Any attack on the population of upper Abkhazia is an attack on Georgia, and the country, in accordance with available means, will respond to the attack and defend itself," Saakashvili told the National Security Council. Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said a shoot-to-kill order would be in effect against all violators of Georgian airspace from now on. "In the case of repeated violations of our airspace, we will open fire, as the security of our population requires of us," he told journalists.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 Interesting dev - recent Net news argue that Iran is a threat to Georgia, etal. ergo the Russians attack??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-03-12 21:55 |
| #2 Russians! What have they got against gorges? Leave the gorge alone! It's just sitting there getting eroded by the river at its bottom. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-03-12 14:05 |
| #1 May a crate of Stingers fall off the ramp of the next cargo plane to visit Georgia. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-03-12 13:48 |