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Georgia confirms report of gun attack on UN observers in Abkhazia

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The chief Georgian military observer confirmed Thursday a report that UN military observer vehicles had been fired on in the zone of a conflict between Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia.
TBILISI, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - The chief Georgian military observer confirmed Thursday a report that UN military observer vehicles had been fired on in the zone of a conflict between Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia.

Abkhazian security services previously said that assailants had fired from automatic weapons on two UN observers' vehicles.

Valery Japaridze said, "I can confirm that a patrol in the Gali District [of Abkhazia] was shot at. UN patrol vehicles are armored, so no one was hurt."

The Georgian observer said an investigation into the incident was under way.

"It is not yet clear who shot at the cars. UN observers themselves do not know who shot at them," he said.

Abkhazian law enforcers earlier said the shots could have been fired by Georgian sabotage groups. But Japaridze dismissed the idea as ridiculous.

The Georgian leadership has repeatedly pledged to bring Abkhazia under its control, a stance that has created tensions with neighboring Russia, which continues to have close links with the region.

Abkhazia declared its independence in 1992, which led to a conflict with Georgia that ended with a ceasefire two years later. Thousands died during the fighting.

On July 27, Georgian authorities said Abkhazia would be given a new "legitimate government" based in the Kodori Gorge in northern Georgia, the only part of Abkhazia that remains under Tbilisi's nominal control.

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