GEORGIA:THE CONFLICT in the Caucasus yesterday spread to Georgia's second breakaway province of Abkhazia where separatist rebels and the Russian air force launched an all-out attack on Georgian forces.
Abkhazia's pro-Moscow separatist leader, Sergei Bagapsh, said his troops had launched a major "military operation" to oust Georgian troops from the mountainous Kodori Gorge, a strategic foothold in the breakaway Black Sea territory.
He said "around 1,000 special Abkhaz troops" were involved. They were attacking Georgian positions using "warplanes, multiple rocket launchers and artillery".
"The operation will enter the next phase as planned. And you will learn about that," he said, adding that he would create a "humanitarian corridor" allowing residents in the district to flee.
The offensive appears to mark a dangerous new front in the conflict between Georgia and Russia.
Georgia immediately accused Russia of planning and executing the attack on the Kodori Valley, a small but strategic enclave just inside Abkhazia controlled by Georgian forces since 2006.
Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said: "They have started the operation to storm Kodori Gorge." Asked who was behind the operation, he replied: "The Russian army."
Speaking in Tbilisi, Georgia's parliamentary speaker David Bakradze said he had "irrefutable proof" that the Russian military was masterminding the "plan". He urged residents to stay calm, adding: "The enemy will be offered all resistance."
Georgia also said Russia had landed 4,000 troops on Saturday night in Abkhazia, brought from the Black Sea base of Sevastopol. The subtropical enclave on the eastern coast of the Black Sea abuts the Russian resort town of Sochi, where Vladimir Putin has his summer residence.
It added that 10 Russian aircraft had attacked Tbilisi-controlled "upper Abkhazia" on Saturday, and Georgian government troops had shot one of them down.
The Russian air force also bombarded Chkhalta, the gorge's main administrative centre, where Georgia has installed an alternative pro-Tbilisi Abkhaz government. It also hit the village of Omarishara, which has an airfield, Georgia said.
Russia yesterday insisted that it did not want to "escalate the conflict", despite the arrival of 4,000 troops on Saturday night.
There seems little doubt however that Russia is determined to evict Georgian troops from the Kodori Gorge. Its aim appears to be to restore the de facto border between Georgia and Abkhazia - and to boost the separatist government based in the seaside town of Sukhumi.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said he was profoundly concerned about tensions in Abkhazia. Ukraine also warned that it might not allow Russian ships deployed off Abkhazia to return to their base in the Crimea.
- (Guardian service)