Bokhundjara incident

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=2007 Bokhundjara armed incident
(Georgian-Abkhazian conflict)
partof=


caption=
date=September 20, 2007
place=Foot of mount Bokhundjara, Tkvarcheli district, Abkhazia
casus=
territory=
result=Aggravation of tensions
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=2 killed, 2 wounded
7 captured
casualties2=None
notes=The 2007 Bokhundjara armed incident refers to a skirmish, that occurred in Georgian breakaway republic of Abkhazia near the border with Georgia proper on September 20, 2007 leaving 2 men dead, 2 injured and 7 detained by the Georgian forces. [cite web
url=http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11906828&PageNum=0
title= Abkhazia FM calls for freeing captured border guards
publisher=ITAR TASS
date=2007-09-26
accessdate = 2007-09-27] The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) launched an independent investigation of the incident. [cite web
url= http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15853
title= UNOMIG: Probe into Abkhaz Clash Still in Progress
publisher=civil.ge
date=2007-09-24
accessdate = 2007-09-27] On October 11, 2007, it released a progress report confirming the incident took place on Abkhaz-controlled territory at the foot of mount Bokhundjara, thus confirming the Abkhaz version of the event.

On October 27, 2007, Georgia released the arrested Abkhaz militiamen and handed them over to the U.N. observers as a "sign of goodwill". [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16112 Georgia Releases Seven Abkhaz Militiamen] . "Civil Georgia". 2007-10-27.]

Skirmish

The clash between the Georgian Interior Ministry forces and Abkhaz troopers were first reported by the Georgian side on September 20, 2007. The Abkhaz authorities confirmed the fact and casualties. However, the two reports diverged, on where exactly the clash occurred and which side attacked first. In a shootout, the Abkhaz lost two dead, at least two wounded and seven captured by the Georgian force. Both Georgian and Abkhaz sources agreed, that the two officers killed in action were Russians, who had formerly served in the CIS peacekeeping forces and then had trained Abkhaz military near the town of Tkvarcheli. However, the Russian military officials denied any involvement of Russian officers in the incident. [ [http://www.kommersant.com/p807899/Georgia_Abkhazia_peacekeepers/ Not Abkhazia’s but Russia’s Officers Killed in Tkvarcheli] . Kommersant. Sep. 25, 2007.] [ru icon [http://www.vokruginfo.ru/news/news20082.html В Абхазии убиты два российских офицера] . Vokrug Novostey. September 25, 2007.]

After the skirmish, the Abkhaz administration placed its forces on alert and began the mobilization of troops near the Kodori Gorge. On September 21, 2007, the Russian daily "Gazeta" reported, on the basis of accounts of eyewitnesses, the shootout occurred between the Russian peacekeeping unit and Abkhaz border guards with the resultant casualties on both sides. Neither Abkhaz nor Russian officials have ever commented on this, however. [ru icon [http://www.gazeta.ru/news/lenta/2007/09/21/n_1120656.shtml В Абхазии застрелен российский миротворец] . Gazeta.Ru. September 21, 2007.]

Reactions

Georgian view

Georgia maintains, that a group of Abkhaz saboteurs had infiltrated the upper part of the Kodori Valley, which is the only territory of Abkhazia controlled by the Georgian government, in order to disrupt the construction of a road, connecting Kodori to the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region of Georgia. [cite web
url= http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=6896
title= Georgia Responds to Abkhazia's Threat
publisher=The Georgian Times
date=2007-09-24
accessdate = 2007-09-27] On September 26, 2007 the President of Georgia, in his address to the U.N. General Assembly, said, that one of the killed in the clash "was a lieutenant colonel of the Russian military and that he was killed during a law-enforcement operation against armed separatist insurgents." One has to wonder, what was a vice colonel of the Russian military doing in the Georgian forests, organizing and leading a group of armed insurgents on a mission of subversion and violence? He once again called for the U.N. to foster the international involvement in Abkhazia and accused Russia of "reckless and dangerous pattern of behavior" in Georgia's conflicts. [ [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15886 Saakashvili’s Speech at the U.N. General Assembly] . "Civil Georgia". 2007-09-27.]

Abkhazian view

The Abkhaz authorities maintain, that a field camp of the Abkhaz border guards, located in the Tkvarcheli district, was attacked by a group of Georgian saboteurs. [cite web
url= http://www.abkhaziagov.org/en/news/detail.php?ID=8340
title= Attack on border guards in Tquarchal region to be an attempt to destabilize the situation in all region – Deputy of Parliament
publisher=abkhaziagov.org
date=2007-09-21
accessdate = 2007-09-27] Abkhazia had accused Georgia of attempting to instigate a full-scale military conflict in order to destabilize the region in the wake of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which are to be held in nearby Sochi.

The Abkhaz authorities had earlier warned, that they reserved to themselves the right to undertake measures at any time to gain control of the upper Kodori Valley. [Vladimir Socor, [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=414&issue_id=3953&article_id=2371732 Moscow Self-Disqualifying as Peacekeeper and Mediator in Abkhaz, South Ossetian Conflicts] . "Eurasia Daily Minitor". Volume 3, Issue 228 (December 11, 2006).]

Russian view

Sergey Chaban, the commander of the CIS peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia, had stated, that according to a joint investigation with the UNOMIG, the incident occurred on the territory of Abkhazia, 700 meters from the border, thus supporting the claim of the Abkhazian side. [cite web
url= http://rian.ru/defense_safety/investigations/20070924/80570898.html
title= Грузинские военные устроили перестрелку на абхазской территории
publisher=RIA Novosti
date=2007-09-24
accessdate = 2007-09-27] However, a UNOMIG representative later stated, that the investigation is still on-going. Responding to Saakashvili's allegations, Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN, stated, that the killed men were instructors at an "anti-terrorist training centre" and died from knife wounds and head gunshots. [cite web
url= http://south-ossetia-news.newslib.com/story/1640-3228096/
title= Georgia, South Ossetia blame each other for shooting
publisher=Pravda
date=2007-09-27
accessdate = 2007-09-27]

United Nations response

The Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed his concern with regard to the incident and called on all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to prevent any further escalation of the situation. In its 24 September 2007 press release, the UNOMIG announced, that its Fact Finding Team was independently engaged in establishing facts relating to this incident, including visiting the locations as indicated by the sides, as well as meeting with witnesses. [ [http://www.unomig.org/data/other/PR_2007_88_eng.pdf UNOMIG's Press Release PR/2007/88] . Tbilisi, 24 September, 2007. The UNOMIG official website. Retrieved on September 27, 2007.] From September 21 to October 8, the team had visited the Bokhundjara area, interviewing a number of witnesses and participated in the autopsy of the two men, who died in the shootout. Blood samples were taken from the men killed in the incident and from the Bokhundjara area. The German government had agreed to facilitate a DNA analysis of the samples. Having analyzed this evidence, the team had concluded, that the incident had occurred at the location designated by the Abkhaz side, on the Abkhaz side of the administrative boundary, at approximately 300 meters from that boundary. Furthermore, the forensic experts have concluded, that the former Russian officers were killed by automatic weapons fired at short and point-blank range. [ [http://www.unomig.org/data/file/961/080123_sg_report_eng.pdf Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia] , January 23, 2008. Retrieved on August 30, 2008.]

References