Sukhumi, 15 November 2008 (RIA Novosti):
Abkhazian border guards were involved on Saturday in a shootout with a group of “Georgian saboteurs” in the Gali district, a police spokesman said. According to Lourens Kogoniya, at around 13.00 local time (10.00 UTC, 06.00 EST), a border guard patrol came across an armed group of six people near the village of Saberio, on the de facto border with Georgia proper. “A shootout took place. According to unconfirmed information there were deaths on the Georgian side”, he said, adding that the group had then fled back across the border.
Abkhazia, along with South Ossetia, seceded from the Georgian SSR following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s amidst armed conflicts that claimed thousands of lives. Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war after Georgia attacked South Ossetia on 8 August. Moscow recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states in late August. For a number of years, the majority of residents in both provinces have held Russian passports. The first round of international talks in Geneva on the Georgia conflict began on 15 October. However, the talks were suspended until 18 November over “procedural difficulties”. Foreign Minister Lavrov said on Saturday that the talks should concentrate on the pressing security issues in the region.
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081115/118330104.html (in English)
