The internal conflicts in the Caucasian republic of Georgia and the Russian involvement in it took a new turn on Sunday when Russian helicopter gunships fired missiles on targets in Kodori Gorge, a Georgia controlled enclave inside the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia which is supported by Russia.
Earlier, the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had dismissed elections in the breakaway region of Abkhazia on Sunday as illegal saying its results would not be recognised.
Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters had flown sorties over the border during the previous night and struck government buildings and houses in the towns of Ajara, Chkhalta and Gentsvishi, Georgian officials said on Monday.
The shots should have been fired by experienced pilots as the approach to the targets required flying through a narrow and often fog-bound gorge in darkness with night vision goggles, they said.
The United Nations observer mission in Georgia has said that it has found evidence showing the missiles were fired by Russians.
Abkhazia, a province of Georgia, declared independence from Georgia in 1993 and the efforts of Georgia to bring the area back under its control were not successful. No country officially recognises Abkhazia. But, the Black Sea region enjoys the de facto support of Russia which maintains a peacekeeping force here.
The United States has expressed deep concern and called for calm.
The newly independent republics in the Caucasus region have been struggling with ethnic conflicts ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. The influence and involvement of Russia has also played a role in perpetuating some of the problems here.
