Abkhaz Legation Denies Airraids

The Abkhaz representation in Russia denies reports by certain media outlets of Sukhumi-stationed aircraft - six helicopters and three SU-25 war planes - bombing the vicinity of the Marukh mountain pass, Abkhazia's Gulripsha district. The Abkhaz top is stunned with the information and says Abkhazia does not have so many aircraft, Tatyana Gulia, press spokeswoman to the legation of the self-proclaimed republic in Georgia, remarked to RIA Novosti today with reference to Abkhaz Defence Ministry PR. Mopping-up is going on in the Kodor Gorge, which Chechen rebels and Georgian paramilitaries penetrated early this month. Abkhaz soldiers are tracking down dispersed gangs and lone-wolf terrorists in civilian disguise, who are passing for local people. They often appear in villages in search of food. "Such people are captured or killed," says Tatyana Gulia.