TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A bomb exploded Wednesday in the tense border area between Georgia and the separatist province of Abkhazia, Georgian and Russian officials said.

No one was reported injured in the blast, the third such incident this week in or near Abkhazia, where tensions are high.

Russia said it suspects Georgia aims to forcefully regain control of Abkhazia; Georgia in turn said Russia wants to annex the region.

The breakaway republic immediately said the fire was coming from Georgia, and announced a full mobilisation of its forces.

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Shelling reported in Georgia's breakaway region

Residential districts in the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia's breakaway republic, have come under heavy artillery fire, according to reports. Mortars and grenades are said to be being used. All of South Ossetia's military have been placed on high alert.

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MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia's defence ministry on Saturday accused Georgia of harbouring plans to take back the separatist province of Abkhazia by force that could trigger a war, Interfax news agency reported.

"Such plans thought up by Tbilisi cannot be seen as anything other than the latest step aimed at escalating tensions in the region, which could turn the conflict into a new war," Interfax quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.

The leader of the separatists in Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, earlier on Saturday said he had been informed of aborted plans for a major military operation by Georgian forces in April or May of this year, Interfax said.

ASTANA, July 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Saturday to refrain from "stoking tensions" in Georgia's breakaway regions.

Medvedev and Saakashvili attended celebrations for the 10-year anniversary of the world's youngest capital, Astana, which was made the capital by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"The president (Medvedev) drew Saakashvili's attention to the need to refrain from stoking tensions in the region and also stressed the need to continue talks with all parties involved," a Kremlin spokesman told reporters.

TBILISI, Georgia: Four bombs exploded Sunday in the tense border area between Georgia and the breakaway province of Abkhazia, officials said, in the latest sign of growing tensions between Georgia and separatists. No injuries were reported.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian officials said six explosions struck on both sides of a de facto border between Georgia and its breakaway Abkhazia region on Sunday, killing one person.

MOSCOW (AFP) — Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia is to cut all ties with the national government, rebel leader Sergei Bagapsh was quoted as saying Monday after blaming Georgian officials for recent attacks.

"Abkhazia is ending all contacts with Georgia due to Tbilisi's policy of state terrorism," said Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazia's de facto leader, quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency.

"Terrorist acts in Gagra, Sukhumi and Gali are links in the same chain and we cannot fail to react," Bagapsh said.

MOSCOW — An explosion in a cafe in a separatist region of the former Soviet republic of Georgia killed four people Sunday night, including a security service official from the rebel government. Six people were injured in the blast.

It was latest in at least half a dozen bombings in less than a week in Abkhazia and the first to cause deaths.

Originally posted by Hellmutt
Georgia Planned To Invade Abkhazia

Georgia planned to invade Abkhazia in April/May, according to Sergei Bagapsh, the leader of Abkhazia. They planned to launch two simultaneous land offensives and a seaborne assault on Ochamchira, Sukhumi, and Gagra.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Bombings and gun battles in two breakaway regions of Georgia are threatening efforts to ease a standoff between Tbilisi and Moscow, hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits the Georgian capital.

Rice, who arrives in Tbilisi on Wednesday, is expected to appeal for restraint on all sides but also express support for former Soviet Georgia's push to join the NATO military alliance, an ambition that has angered Russia.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has said the upcoming visit on 9 July of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will "significantly facilitate the development of the Georgian state". At a meeting of the National Security Council broadcast by Georgian TV stations, he said that in addition to the fact that it was an important show of political support, the visit would also encourage foreign investment in Georgia and, by extension, improve the economy and reduce poverty.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Russia on Tuesday accused Georgia of whipping up tensions with its separatist foes and of trying to derail peace negotiations over the conflicts in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"We expressed our deep concern about the latest action of the Georgian side," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told reporters after raising the issue during a closed-door meeting of the 15-member Security Council.

UNITED NATIONS, July 8 (Reuters) - Russia put a draft resolution before the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday calling on Georgia to defuse tensions with breakaway Abkhazia after a deadly weekend bomb blast in the region.
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It demanded "the Georgian side take urgent steps" to ensure that no unauthorized troops were present in the flashpoint Kodori Valley, where the de facto border between Georgia and Abkhazia runs.

It also urged both sides, "in particular Tbilisi," to address each other's legitimate security concerns and refrain from acts of violence or provocation.

SUKHUMI, Georgia: The breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has rejected a U.S. proposal to deploy an international police force there, the leader of Abkhazia said Tuesday.

The regional government, which is not internationally recognized, instead pledged to keep Russian peacekeepers in place, despite accusations from Georgia that they are fomenting tensions.

"We are not going to listen to any recommendations from the State Department, which always has a unilaterally pro-Georgian position," said Sergei Bagapsh, the leader of Abkhazia.

MOSCOW (AFP) — The head of Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region on Tuesday called for talks with Tbilisi to defuse mounting tensions over the Moscow-backed region, Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

South Ossetia "is extending a hand of friendship, calling on Georgia to forget about aggression and sit down at the negotiating table," the news agency quoted South Ossetian president Eduard Kokoity as saying.

Tensions in the region soared last week after separatists said two people were killed by intense shelling from Georgia and threatened to retaliate with heavy weapons.

MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - Authorities in South Ossetia, a breakaway Georgian region, said in a letter to the OSCE made public on Tuesday that the international community must not stand by and allow the regional conflict to escalate.

The rebel province, where tensions have been escalating since a shootout last week, has accused Georgia of planning an all-out military invasion, and says Tbilisi has been boosting its military presence on the border in recent days.

Four Georgian military officers were released Tuesday after being detained earlier in the day in the conflict zone. South Ossetia accused them of being on a reconnaissance mission while Georgia said they were returning from visiting friends.

(TBILISI, Georgia) — A Georgian official warned Russia on Friday that it will have to "collect the shattered fragments" of its planes if they intrude on Georgian airspace again.

Russia has confirmed that four of its planes circled over the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia late Wednesday for about 40 minutes, and said the mission was ordered to head off a possible "invasion" of the region by Georgian troops.

Georgia, which has accused Russia of aiming to annex the province, said the mission was an illegal invasion of Georgian airspace.

Georgia recalled its ambassador to Russia for consultations after the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that a Russian military aircraft had flown over a breakaway, pro-Moscow region of Georgia this week. The flight, and Georgia’s response, further escalated tensions between Russia and Georgia, a former Soviet republic, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital.