Abkhazia intend to shoot down alien aircraft, emerging over its territory without government permission

Sukhumy has declared its intention to shoot down any aircraft that will emerge over the Abkhaz territory without the permission of the Abkhaz government, Sergei Shamba, the unacknowledged republic' Foreign Minister, said in his interview with RIA Novosti on Monday.

According to him, at present Georgian combat helicopters frequent the region of the Marukhsky passage.

The helicopters are the American Iroquois, supplied to Georgia by the US, the Abkhaz side reports.

"Our military men watch the flights. They have not made efforts to shoot the helicopters down, while we are solving the problem in a political way. But they will next time," the head of the Abkhaz diplomacy stressed.

Shamba denied the Georgian side's allegations that earlier the Abkhaz side tried to bring down a Georgian helicopter in the Kodori gorge. "What happened was not an attempt to bring down the helicopter. It was a warning shot," Shamba said.

The Abkhaz Foreign Minister accused the Georgian government of "militarizing the region in contravention to all agreements." "At present they are even arranging their posts far beyond the limits of the Kodori gorge's upper part," he pointed out.

"They have their people in the mountains. There are no roads there, but the people need equipment, provision and shifts. And that necessitates constant flights," Shamba said.