Report: Abkhaz troops pushing Georgians from gorge

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Interfax news agency says troops in separatist Abkhazia have started an operation to push Georgian forces out of the northern Kodori Gorge. The reported operation in the western province comes as Russian troops pressed into neighboring Georgia in an escalating conflict that started last week over another breakaway Georgian province to the east, South Ossetia. The Interfax report cited the Abkhaz defense headquarters as saying the operation started early Tuesday to push Georgian troops out of the northern part of the Kodori Gorge, the only area of Abkhazia still under Georgian control. Abkhazia's separatists, who enjoy Russian backing, declared Sunday they would push Georgian forces out of the gorge.