Russia, Georgia ties in crisis after air raid report

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 25, 2002

Russia, Georgia ties in crisis after air raid report

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The crisis between Russia and former ally Georgia following a reported Russian cross-border air raid deepened on Saturday when Moscow accused Tbilisi of adopting soft tactics against Chechen rebels on its territory.

Tension mounted further with Russian reports late on Saturday that the bodies of eight Russian border guards had been found near the joint border with Georgia.

A toughly worded Russian Foreign Ministry statement poured scorn on the Georgian authorities' tactics of "peacefully squeezing" guerrillas in Georgia's wild Pankisi Gorge.

"The terrorists must be cut off, disarmed and handed over to the Russian side," it said.

The uncompromising statement, issued after reports of Russian aerial bombing close to the remote gorge on Friday, was the latest exchange in a war of words between the two former Soviet allies over the activities of Chechens in Georgia.

The gorge lies across the border from Russia's rebel region of Chechnya where Russian troops have been battling separatist guerrillas on and off for most of the past eight years.

Russian news agencies meanwhile quoted the Federal Borderguard Service as saying the bodies of eight of their men, all from the same unit, had been found at an undisclosed spot on the border with Georgia which lies on Russia's southern rim.

Interfax news agency said the bodies of the men had been found after their unit had failed to make radio contact on Saturday and a search had been launched.

It was not immediately clear how they had died nor what part of the border they had been deployed on. Two other members of the same unit were missing, Interfax said.

Special Operations Continue in Chechnya

In Chechnya itself, Russian forces were said to be continuing special operations to root out a large group of guerrillas in the village of Galsan-Chu in the Nozhai-Yurt region.

Itar-Tass quoted Boris Podoprigora, deputy commander of Russia's forces in Chechnya, as saying that after an operation already lasting four days half of the 50-strong force of rebels had been wiped out.

Other special operations were being carried out in Kurchaloi and Achkhoi-Martan regions, the agency said. None of these reports could be independently confirmed.

Feeling has been running high among the Russian military in Chechnya since the crash there of an overcrowded helicopter troop carrier on Monday which killed 116 Russian servicemen.

Source: Agencies

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