GEORGIA: Georgian troops backed by helicopter gunships and armoured vehicles yesterday stormed rebel-held villages near its breakaway Abkhazia enclave.
In a day of fierce fighting along the wooded Kodori gorge region, rebel leader Emzar Kvitsiani was reported wounded as insurgent troops were driven out of their positions.
The attack has further strained relations between Georgia and Russia, who Georgians accuse of siding with the rebels.
And it has ended the brief week-long claim of independence by the small Svin mountain tribe of western Georgia.
Georgian prime minister Zurab Nogaideli, visiting Brussels for consultations over his country's application to join Nato, insisted the attack was not aimed at the Abkhazia enclave itself, but only the small Svin district on its periphery.
"The police operation is being directed against common criminals," he said.
He said he had discussed the attack with Nato secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov warned Georgia against an expansion of the offensive into Abkhazia proper, and said Russian peacekeeping troops nearby were on alert.
"The peacekeepers will perform the mandate that all the conflicting parties have signed," he said.
Last week Mr Kvitsiani declared the area was leaving Georgian control and joining the neighbouring Abkhazia enclave, which broke away from Georgia in a 1992 civil war.
The assault began before dawn with artillery fire, and troops backed by armoured vehicles pushed up the main road into the Kodori gorge. Rebels had spent the weekend fortifying villages along both sides of the gorge, and their positions were enfiladed by Georgian helicopter gunships.
Reports in the Georgian media said resistance crumbled in all but one of the strong points.
"There are Georgian combat helicopters in the battle zone," said Abkhazia defence minister Sultan Sosnaliyev. He said his troops were on full alert.
Georgian interior minister Vano Merabishvili got through to Mr Kvitsiani by radio and demanded his surrender, but the rebel leader refused. As fighting closed around the village, Mr Kvitsiani was reported to have been shot in the stomach.
By early evening the village had reportedly fallen with 80 insurgents captured.