Tbilisi, 11 October 2001 (RFE/RL) -- Forces from the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia claim to have killed six Chechen guerrillas over the last 24 hours. The Abkhaz separatists defense spokesman Vladimir Mikanba is quoted (by AFP) as saying two other Chechens were captured. He said fighting was still going on last night near the Sakharnaya Gora mountain between Abkhaz soldiers and Chechen fighters.
On 8 October, 14 civilians were killed in the village of Naa, in the northern Gulripchski part of Abkhazia. Abkhaz leaders blamed that attack on Chechen guerillas.
Abkhazia claimed de facto independence from the rest of Georgia in 1993 after a war in the early 1990s in which the separatists were supported by Moscow.
On 8 October, 14 civilians were killed in the village of Naa, in the northern Gulripchski part of Abkhazia. Abkhaz leaders blamed that attack on Chechen guerillas.
Abkhazia claimed de facto independence from the rest of Georgia in 1993 after a war in the early 1990s in which the separatists were supported by Moscow.