The Resonance; The Dilis Gazeti
Georgian airspace was violated again yesterday early in the morning. According to the Georgian side, six helicopters and four jets of EM-24 and SU-25 type entered Kodori gorge from the direction of Sukhumi. They bombed Marukhi pass. Abkhazian side denies the information and states it has no such equipment.
Georgian press pays special attention to the incident. It says the bombardment lasted for 20 minutes. There are no victims though for unpopulated land, mostly pastures were bombed. “The Defense Ministry states the air attack was aiming for psychological pressure… The Foreign Affairs Ministry protests the fact and asks for corresponding explanations from Russia”, the Resonance says. The paper has published part of the Foreign Ministry’s declaration saying: “Such facts clearly point at the aggressive policy Russian Federation passes against Georgia”.
Head of the Defense and Security Committee Giorgi Baramidze agrees with the announcements made by the Ministries. “Russia is being aggressive for different motives and with different forms”, he told the Resonance. Former security minister Irakli Batiashvili is of different position and lays responsibility on Georgian law enforcers.
Even though the aircrafts had no identification signs President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze plans to express his protest because of the incident, the Dilis Gazeti says. It does not specify whom exactly he intends to protest against.
Besides the fact of bombardment the Dilis Gazeti talks about the situation existing in Gali region, Abkhazia, also. Georgian inhabitants of this part of separatist Republic of Abkhazia are threatened all the time, the paper says. It talks about several cases of capturing local Georgians and points out that Abkhaz police often support Abkhaz criminals in such crimes. “It is said that Russian “peacekeepers” are to help Abkhazians in startling Georgians as well”, the paper says. By the way, it puts the word “peacekeepers” in brackets meaning it is dubious about their official mission.