War in Abkhazia (1998)
Part of Georgian-Abkhazian conflict
Date May 20, 1998 - May 26, 1998 Location Abkhazia, Western Georgia Result Abkhazian victory
Belligerents
Abkhazia	White Legion Forest Brotherhood
Commanders
Sergei Bagapsh	Zurab Samushia Dato Shengelia
Strength
4,700+ troops	800 - 1,720+ combatants
Casualties and losses
8 killed, 17 wounded (confirmed by Abkhazia),[1] at least 300 killed and dozens wounded (per Georgian sources)[2]	17 killed[2] 24 wounded 56 captured 6 missing (per Georgian sources), about 160 killed (Abkhazian sources)[1]
35 Georgian civilians killed, 30,000 - 40,000 displaced

v • d • e Conflicts in the Former Soviet Union Nagorno-Karabakh – 1st South Ossetia – 1st Abkhazia – Georgia – North Ossetia – Transnistria – Tajikistan – 1st Chechnya – 2nd Abkhazia – Dagestan – 2nd Chechnya – Ingushetia – 2nd South Ossetia and 3rd Abkhazia – North Caucasus

The War in Abkhazia in 1998 took place in the Gali district of Abkhazia, after ethnic Georgians launched an insurgency against the Abkhazian secessionist government. The conflict is sometimes referred to as the Six-Day War of Abkhazia, although, that name takes in account only the Abkhazian May 20, 1998 - May 26, 1998 offensive, hostilities and insurgent attacks had already occurred, before that date.^[3][2]

Contents 1 Background 2 Sporadic guerrilla attacks 3 The War 4 Casualties 5 Georgian involvement 6 References

[edit] Background

At the height of the War in Abkhazia from 1992 to 1993, Abkhazia's Georgian population was subjected to systematic ethnic cleansing at the hands of Abkhaz militias and their allies from Russia's North Caucasian republics. By November 1993, most of the Gali district was controlled by the secessionists with the exception of a few isolated enclaves evacuated by the Georgian forces, according to the Russian-mediated ceasefire accord of 1994. Since that time, around 40,000 to 60,000 Georgians had returned to the Gali district.

[edit] Sporadic guerrilla attacks

The fruitless five-year Abkhazian-Georgian peace talks goaded Georgian refugees into taking up arms out of frustration. Small guerrilla units gradually united and formed the White Legion in 1996. The Legion had taken responsibility for subversive actions in Abkhazia, since that date. A new unit, the Forest Brotherhood, was created later.^[4]

Sukhumi claimed, that about 300 Georgian guerrillas had intruded into the Gali district of Abkhazia and started preparations for a large-scale subversive mission. According to Abkhazian sources, they were encouraging Georgian residents of the district (especially children and women) to leave their homes temporarily and to stay in hideouts in the case, that new hostilities could begin.^[2]

The spring brought a worsening of the situation in Abkhazia. The White Legion, Forest Brotherhood and other Georgian groups stepped up their attacks on the Abkhazian army, which finally lost control of the Gali region. In the heaviest attack, on May 18, 1998, ethnic Georgian guerrillas raided an Abkhazian militia station in the village of Repi, Gali district, killing 17 militiamen.^[3]

[edit] The War

On May 20, 1998, a heavily armed Abkhazian punitive force consisting of about 3,500 servicemen and 1,100 irregulars with T-55 and T-72 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and 122-mm artillery systems entered the Gali district. Georgian guerrillas, only armed with grenade launchers and machine guns, resorted to trench warfare to defend Georgian villages. The most severe fighting occurred near the villages of Khumushkuri, Kvemo Barghebi, Saberio and Sida. Abkhazian forces continued their assault and fighting continued for six days.

By May 26, 1998, Abkhazian forces had taken control of almost the whole Gali district. Georgian and Abkhazian delegations reached a truce on May 25, 1998 in Gagra. According to the agreement, both parties had to withdraw their armed forces from the Gali district, at the beginning of 6 a.m., on May 26, 1998. A special commission made up of representatives of the United Nations and other international organisations was set up to supervise the ceasefire.^[2]

[edit] Casualties

According to the Procurator's office of Georgia, during the conflict in Gali, the Georgian side suffered the following casualties: 6 missing, 35 civilians and 17 servicemen killed, 24 wounded and 56 POW. In addition 1,695 houses of local Georgians were burned down. Abkhazian losses were reported to be at least 600 dead and hundreds of wounded.

According to Abkhazian side (as reported by Russian journalist Oleg Tatarchenkov), its casualties were 8 killed and 17 wounded, Georgian losses were reported to be about 160 killed.

The hostilities resulted in hundreds of casualties and displaced an additional 30,000 to 40,000 Georgians. Although many families quickly returned, the clashes left 1,500 homes and infrastructure in ruins, including some, that had been recently rehabilitated with international funding. The United Nations Joint Assessment Mission to the Gali district confirmed in 2000, that homes and infrastructure were deliberately burned and looted, during the Abkhazian offensive.^[5]

[edit] Georgian involvement

The Georgian government stated, that it had no connections with the guerrillas.^[2]

At an extraordinary session of the Abkhazian-Georgian talks in Tbilisi on May 22, 1998, Abkhazia and Georgia endorsed a draft protocol obliging Sukhumi to withdraw its forces from Gali to stop guerrilla warfare in the region. Thus, experts claimed, Georgian authorities indirectly acknowledged, that they had certain control over guerrillas. Eduard Shevardnadze, the President of Georgia, once again stated, that the Georgian government had nothing to do with the guerrillas in Gali.^[2]

[edit] References

v • d • e   Georgian–Abkhazian conflict
Timeline	Abkhazian side	Georgian side
1989 Sukhumi riots 1991 Abkhazian New Union Treaty referendum 1992 - 1993 War in Abkhazia October 1992 Battle of Gagra 1992 - 1993 Siege of Tkvarcheli July 1993 Massacre in Kamani September 1993 Transair Georgia airliner shootdowns September 1993 Massacre in Sukhumi Ethnic cleansing of Georgians 1994 Moscow agreement 1998 War in Abkhazia 2001 Kodori crisis 2006 Kodori crisis 2007 Georgia helicopter attack incident 2007 Georgia plane downing incident 2007 Bokhundjara incident 2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns 2008 Khurcha incident 2008 Abkhazia bombings 2008 Achamkhara incident 2008 South Ossetia War Battle off the coast of Abkhazia Battle of the Kodori Valley	Military forces: Military of Abkhazia Abkhazian Air Force Bagramyan Battalion Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus Key leaders: Vladislav Ardzinba Sergei Bagapsh	Military forces: Military of Georgia Military of Georgia Georgian Air Force Georgian Navy Mkhedrioni White Legion Forest Brothers Key leaders: Zhiuli Shartava † Zviad Gamsakhurdia † Eduard Shevardnadze Mikheil Saakashvili