Georgian troops squeezed out of Kodori Gorge

Abkhazian military have completed an operation to force Georgian troops from the disputed Kodori Gorge area, the only part of the province still controlled by Georgia. The president of the breakaway republic Sergey Bagapsh says Abkhazia has no intention o

Abkhazian troops are celebrating their victory, after Georgian troops offered no serious resistance.

One man was reportedly killed in the operation.

Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba said that, before Tuesday, the Abkhazian Air Force and artillery had been delivering missile and bomb strikes on military targets in the upper part of the Kodori Gorge.

Units of regular troops and reservists of the armed forces of Abkhazia were taking part in the operation on Tuesday.

On August 10, Abkhazian President announced partial mobilisation on the territory of the whole republic and imposed martial law in the eastern part of Abkhazia for a period of ten days. The Foreign Minister said that the time given to the Georgian side for the voluntary pulling out of the gorge expired on Tuesday morning.

In July 2006, Georgia deployed its military units in this part of Abkhazia and created a military foothold there.