| A serious clash occurred in the conflict zone Four Georgian policemen died on Tuesday night in the 12-kilometer security zone that divided Georgians and Abkhazians after the armed conflict of 1992-1993. As a result of the clash, which stopped after the appearance of a patrol of Russian peacekeepers in an armored personnel carrier, two attackers were killed. There has not been such a large-scale clash in the conflict zone for a long time; the incident threatens the Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations on security issues in the Gali region, which resumed in mid-January after a long break.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that the gang entered the Tsalenjikha region of western Georgia from the adjacent Gali region of Abkhazia. The daring attack on the posts, according to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Georgiy Baramidze, who visited the scene, was carried out by smugglers who had recently felt uncomfortable due to the increased activity of the police. According to preliminary data, this could be a group of the famous Abkhaz crime boss Turamba, which includes some of the especially dangerous Georgian repeat offenders who escaped from prison in Rustavi last September.
Press Secretary of the President of Georgia Georgiy Arveladze told reporters that by order of Mikheil Saakashvili, the families of the fallen law enforcement officers will receive a lump sum salary for them for 10 years. Colleagues of the victims have vowed to find the bandits - the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that they know enough about this group to do so.
The head of the Security Service of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia, Givi Agrba, told VN that, according to his information, no Abkhazians are active in the adjacent Georgian territory. According to him, “it was a clash between the local police and the local criminals.” The Abkhaz side confirmed its readiness to cooperate with Georgian authorities in the search for bandits. Mikhail VIGNANSKY, Tbilisi |
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