Georgia, Tbilisi, March 5 / Trend, N. Kirtskhalia /
U.S. Ambassador to Georgia John Bass expressed concern over the incident in the Ganmukhuri village, where according to the Interior Ministry, Abkhazian side opened fire at a police checkpoint. "I have been already informed about the attack on the Georgian police checkpoint, and this information is very alarming. Violence on the administrative border causes our concern," he said, stressing that the U.S. Embassy expects official information also from the EU monitoring mission in Georgia.
Bass urged the parties to the "restraint", stressing that tension should not be allowed in these regions. "Both sides must know that they must display restrain and not resort to violence," he said.
Bass said that "this fact indicates that the international community should be actively involved in the process".
The Interior Ministry issued a statement on March 4 about attack on a police checkpoint from the Abkhazian territory. According to the statement, the Georgian police checkpoint in the Ganmukhuri village (administrative border between Abkhazia and Georgia) was attacked by six armed men, entering from the Abkhazian territory, at 3:20 am on Sunday.
They fired at the checkpoint from grenade launcher and self-firer. The shooting lasted for about 10 minutes, after which the armed men retreated back into the Abkhazian territory. No one was injured as a result of the firing.