Four people died and six were injured in “a powerful” explosion in Gali town in breakaway Abkhazia late on July 6, Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress reported.
The blast happened in a cafe at about 11pm local time on Sunday in the predominately ethnic Georgian populated district.
Jansukh Muratia, the acting chief of the Gali department of the Abkhaz security service; Sukhran Gumba, an employee of the border department of the Abkhaz security service; Anzor Lagvilava, an interpreter of the UN Mission in the Gali district; and Iveta Toria, a local resident, died as a result of the explosion, according to Apsnipress.
Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh has blamed the Georgian side, saying that Georgia “has chosen the way of state terrorism.”
“The Gali explosion is a terrorist act aimed at destabilizing the situation in the region. This explosion is a continuation of a chain of terrorist acts, which occurred in Gagra and Sokhumi,” Bagapsh told Interfax news agency on July 7.
Chief of the Abkhaz security service Yuri Ashuba also said it was a terrorist act masterminded by the Georgian side against Abkhaz law enforcement officers.