Abkhazia, CA
Abkhazia Institute for Social and Economic Research
Sept 1 2007

Major terrorist groups operating in Abkhazia

Saturday, 01 September 2007

Georgia lost over 30,000 lives to terrorism and extremism over the
last 14 years in Abkhazia. This is certainly cause for alarm, and
creates an image of widespread breakdown of law and order – and this
is an accurate picture of breakaway parts of the country- Abkhazia
and South Ossetia. Across most of its geographical expanse, however,
Georgia has remained by and large free of the modern-day scourge of
terrorism, as of insurgency and other patterns of extremist political
violence.

A review of data relating to civilian fatalities as a result of
social and political violence in the breakaway province of Georgia
over the period September 27, 1993 – August 31, 2007, indicated that
nearly 70 per cent of all such fatalities occurred in parts of
Sukhumi and Ochamchira alone as a result of the separatist war
against all ethnic majorities in that region. Over 20 per cent were
accounted for by a range of insurgencies and terrorist attack in
Gagra and Gudauta region. A little less than 10 per cent of civilian
fatalities resulted from ethnic cleansing committed by Abkhazian
separatists (referred as Massacre of Georgians in Abkhazia) and
retaliatory violence in some areas of eastern Abkhazia, mainly Gali
region. Separatism constitutes a primary demand of the movement
`Abkhazia for Abkhazians, and of many of the groups active in west
part of Sukhumi area, where predominantly is Armenian population (so,
Abkhazian separatists have clearly defined goal to wipe out Armenians
and Greeks from Abkhazia too). There has been a proliferation of
militant groups in recent times, with as many as 70% identified as
Russian consultants or undercover Russian peacekeepers. Most of these
are involved in drug smuggling and human trafficking.

The Apsua groups operating with Russian support in Abkhazia, however,
do have a clear `independency’ agenda, and are known to have created
a network of terrorist cells in a number of other regions of Georgia
as well as in Russia. While an occasional and dramatic strike has
been engineered in various cities, including notably, Gudauta,
Ochamchire, Gali and Tkvarcheli over the past decade.

Currently self-proclaimed government of Abkhazia has stationed
additional troops in the villages of Upper Zones of Gali district.

According to the statement of the local residents, members of the
Abkhazian armed groupings together with peacekeepers carry out
patrolling of the district. They intrude into the house of locals and
devoid them of goods, and seems to prepare attack on Upper Abkhazia.