The EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said details of a reported shooting incident on the Abkhaz administrative border on Sunday remained unclear and expressed concern about “the current security situation” in the area.
Georgia said its police post close to the village of Ganmukhuri was attacked by a group of men, who infiltrated on its controlled territory from breakaway Abkhazia. Sokhumi said it had nothing to do with the shooting incident.
“On being informed on Sunday that an incident had taken place, the EUMM sent several patrols to the area to gather information about what may have happened,” EUMM said in a statement on Monday. “So far, the details are not clear and the local reports are contradictory. The Mission will continue to work with those responsible for security on both sides of the ABL [administrative boundary line] to look into this incident.”
“Whatever may have occurred, the EUMM calls on all sides to show restraint and refrain from any words or actions that could be provocative.”
“There has been a worrying increase in security related events in this area in recent months, a point raised by the EUMM at previous Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meetings,” the EU monitoring mission said referring to regular meetings between the sides held in Gali.
“The Mission will continue to closely monitor events on the ground and to work with all participants in the IPRM meetings, and through the hotline, to maintain security and stability for the people living in the area close to the Administrative Boundary Line,” EUMM said.