TBILISI, November 1 (AVN) -- The Georgian General Staff is planning a military operation to neutralise Chechen guerrilla gangs which invaged the country's Akhmeta district, a source in the Georgian Defence Ministry told the Milittary News Agency on Monday.
According to him, over 1,000 guerrillas are staying in the village of Birkiani and declaring readiness to fight their way to the mountaineous region of Svanetia.
However the Defence Ministry press service on Monday denied that any military operation was being planned. The Boder Protection Department also denied the report, buit its chief, Lieutenant-General Valery Chkheidze, admitted that the criminal situation in the Akhmeta district and the Pankiss canyon, where ethnic Chechens are residing, is extremely complicated. Georgian authorities are not having full control over these territories, he said.