TBILISI. Oct 22 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian State Security Minister Valery Khaburdzania has stated that up to 60 rebels and criminals may be hiding in the zone adjacent to Russia.
Ethnic Arabs may be among them, he said on Rustavi-2 television on Monday.
A source in the Georgian Interior Ministry has told Interfax that a sweep operation will be launched against "rebels and criminals" hiding in a forest.
This group is not planning to cross into Chechnya, and is looking for a place in Georgia where it could spend the winter, he said.
Georgian Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili, on instructions from President Eduard Shevardnadze, visited the Akhmeta district on Monday, the Georgian Interior Ministry's press service told Interfax.