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{{Short description|Ethnic conflict in Georgia}}
⚫ {{Infobox Military Conflict
{{for|the war in 1992–1993|War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)}}
|conflict=War in Abkhazia (1998)<br>(''']''')
⚫ {{Infobox military conflict
|partof=
| conflict = War in Abkhazia (1998)
|image=
| partof = the ]
⚫ |caption=
| image = Political map of Georgia and its environment in 1991-2000.jpg
|date= ], ] - ], ]
| image_size = 300px
|place=], ]
⚫ | caption =
|casus=
| date = 18–26 May 1998<br />({{Age in months, weeks and days|year1=1998|month1=5|day1=18|year2=1998|month2=5|day2=26}})
⚫ |territory=
| place = ], Western ]
|result=Abkhazian victory|combatant1=] ]
⚫ | territory =
|combatant2=] Georgian insurgents
| result = Abkhazian victory
⚫ |commander1=] (MoD)
| combatant1 = {{flag|Abkhazia}}
|commander2=Unknown
| combatant2 = {{flagdeco|Georgia (country)|1990}} ]<br>{{flagicon image|Mkhedrioni flag.png}} ]<ref name="rferl1141665b" /><br />{{flagdeco|Georgia (country)|1990}} ]
|strength1=~1,500
⚫ | commander1 = {{flagicon|Abkhazia}} ]
|strength2=~300
| commander2 = {{flagdeco|Georgia (country)|1990}} Zurab Samushia{{KIA}}<br /> {{flagicon image|Mkhedrioni flag.png}} Dato Shengelia{{KIA}}<br /> {{flagdeco|Georgia (country)|1990}} ]
|casualties1='''Georgian claims'''<ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>:<br>300 KIA
| strength1 = 1,500 troops<ref name=tozun>{{cite book|last=Bahcheli|first=Tozun|title=De Facto States: The Quest For Sovereignty|year=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|pages=151|isbn=9780203485767|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIbah-giC0EC&q=abkhazian+1998+war&pg=PA151}}</ref>
|casualties2='''Georgian claims'''<ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>:<br>17 KIA<br>6 MIA<br>56 POW
| strength2 = 400 guerrillas{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|casualties3=Civilian casualties: 35 Georgians killed<ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>
| casualties1 = '''Abkhazia''':<ref name="tatarchenkow">{{Cite web|url=http://okopka.ru/t/tatarchenkow_o_n/text_0030.shtml|title=Okopka.ru: Татарченков Олег Николаевич. Рикошет (записки военного корреспондента)|website=okopka.ru}}</ref><br />8 killed<br />17 wounded<br />'''Georgian sources''':<ref name="cpirs.org.ge">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-09-27 |archive-date=2009-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326154505/http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />300+ killed<br />dozens wounded
| casualties2 = '''Georgian sources''':<ref name="cpirs.org.ge" /><br />17 killed<br />24 wounded<br />56 captured<br />6 missing<br />'''Abkhazia''':<ref name="tatarchenkow" /><br />160 killed
| casualties3 = 35 Georgian civilians killed<br />30,000–40,000 displaced<ref name="rferl1141665" />
⚫ | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Post-Soviet conflicts}}
}} }}
⚫ {{Campaignbox Post-Soviet Conflicts}}
⚫ The May ] '''War in Abkhazia''' took place in the ], ] after ethnic ] launched an insurgency against the Abkhaz secessionist government. The conflict is sometimes referred to as the '''Six-Day War of Abkhazia''', although that name takes in account only the Abkhaz ], ] - ], ] offensive, hostilities and insurgent attacks had already occurred before that date.<ref></ref><ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>


⚫ The '''War in Abkhazia in 1998''' took place in the Gali district of ], after ethnic ] launched an ] against the Abkhazian separatist government. The conflict is sometimes referred to as the '''Six-Day War of Abkhazia'''; however, this name only takes into account the Abkhazian offensive that lasted from 20 to 26 May 1998, while hostilities and insurgent attacks had already occurred before that date.<ref name="mondediplo.com">{{Cite web|url=https://mondediplo.com/1998/12/10georgia|title=Ethnic conflict in Georgia|first=Vicken|last=Cheterian|date=December 1, 1998|website=Le Monde diplomatique}}</ref><ref name="cpirs.org.ge"/>
==Background==
At the height of the ] in 1993, the Georgians of Gali were subjected to systematic ] at the hands of the Abkhaz militias and their allies from Russia's ] 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-brokered ceasefire accord in ]. Since that time, some 40,000 - 60,000 Georgians have returned to the Gali district.


== Timeline ==
==Sporadic guerrilla attacks==
In the eighteen months prior to the war, Georgian paramilitary forces systematically attacked both Russian peacekeeping troops and the Abkhazian military.<ref name="rferl1342032">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Loose Cannons in Abkhazia|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1342032.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Caucasus Report|issue=8|publisher=]|date=21 April 1998|volume=1 }}</ref>
The fruitless five-year Georgian-Abkhaz peace talks goaded Georgian refugees into taking up arms out of frustration. Small guerrilla units gradually united and in 1996 formed the ]. The Legion had taken responsibility for subversive actions in Abkhazia since that date. A new unit, the ], was created some time later.<ref>http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/slavic/pdfs/army698.pdf</ref>


In the beginning of May, 300 fighters from the Georgian paramilitary ] crossed into Abkhazia, whereupon the Abkhazian government placed its military on combat alert.<ref name="rferl1141652">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Georgia to become 'asymmetric federation?' |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141652.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=11 May 1998}}</ref> The White Legion was said to have received orders from ], head of Georgia's ] and member of Georgia's Security Council.<ref name="rferl1141665">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Abkhaz offensive ruins peace prospects |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141665.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=28 May 1998}}</ref> In addition, Tornike Berishvili, a leader of the ], declared on 27 May that 100 of its men had also fought in Abkhazia.<ref name="rferl1141665b">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Controversial Georgian Paramilitary Organization Still Active |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141665.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=28 May 1998}}</ref> According to Georgian sources, on 2 and 3 May Georgian forces gained control of the villages of Saberio, near the ], and Khumushkuri, and killed six Abkhazian soldiers when Abkhazian forces tried to retake the two villages.<ref name="jt16900">{{cite news|title=Have Georgian guerrillas seized ground in Abkhazia.|work=Monitor|issue=85|publisher=]|date=4 May 1998|volume=4 }}</ref> On 12 May, Georgian MP Germane Patsatsia announced that he was resigning to join the Georgian guerillas in Abkhazia who he claimed had seized control of Gali District.<ref name="rferl1141654">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Georgian Parliamentary Deputy Quits to Join Guerrillas |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141654.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=13 May 1998}}</ref>
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 Abkhaz sources, they were encouraging Georgian residents of the district (especially children and women) to leave their homes temporarily and stay for some time in hideouts in case new hostilities began.<ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>


On 18 May, Georgian forces killed about twenty Abkhazian policemen in a surprise attack in the village of Repi.<ref name="rferl1141658">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=More guerrilla clashes in Abkhazia|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141658.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=19 May 1998}}</ref><ref name="rferl1141665"/> The next day, Abkhazian troops carried out reprisal attacks, resulting in ten to thirty deaths and causing Georgian residents to flee across the ].<ref name="rferl1141660">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Georgians flee as Abkhaz fighting intensifies |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141660.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=21 May 1998}}</ref> The following days saw minor, sporadic clashes as the Abkhazian Interior Ministry sent 800 more men into Gali District. Abkhazian forces were reported to set fire to Georgian homes.<ref name="rferl1141661">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Situation on Georgian-Abkhaz border remains tense|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141661.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=22 May 1998}}</ref>
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 ] ], ethnic Georgian guerrillas raided an Abkhaz militia station in the village of Repi, in the Gali district killing 17 militiamen.<ref></ref>


On 22 May, the two sides signed a cease-fire agreement in Tbilisi, which was broken that same day when fighting broke out in the village of Tskhiri, killing four people. The next three days saw fierce fighting, with ITAR-TASS reporting the death of 40 Abkhazian soldiers, 4 Georgian soldiers and more than 20 Georgian civilians.<ref name="rferl1141662">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Abkhaz fighting continues... |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141662.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=25 May 1998}}</ref>
==The "Six-Day War"==
On ] ], a heavily armed Abkhaz punitive force consisting of about 1,500 servicemen with ] and ] ]s, ]s and 122-mm ] systems entered the Gali district. Georgian guerrillas armed with only submachine and machine guns and grenade launchers began trench warfare to defend Georgian villages. The most severe fighting occurred near the villages of Khumushkuri, Zemo Barghebi, Sida and Saberio.


On 25 May, the Georgian and Abkhazian foreign ministers signed another cease-fire agreement in Gagra, set to take effect at 6:00 the following day, but fighting continued.<ref name="rferl1141663">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Abkhaz fighting continues, despite cease-fire agreement |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141663.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=26 May 1998}}</ref> On the night of 26 to 27 May, Abkhazian forces expelled the last Georgian guerillas.<ref name="rferl1141664">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Abkhaz Expel Georgian Guerrillas From Gali |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141664.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=27 May 1998}}</ref>
By ] Abkhaz forces had taken control of almost the whole Gali district. Georgian and Abkhaz delegations reached a truce on ] in ]. According to the agreement, both parties had to withdraw their armed forces from the Gali district beginning at 6 a.m. on May 26. A special commission made up of representatives of the ] and other international organisations was set up to supervise the ceasefire.<ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>


Georgia's opposition blamed President ] for losing the war by not supporting the guerillas with the Georgian Military.<ref name="rferl1141666">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Georgian Opposition Blames Shevardnadze for Defeat |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141666.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=29 May 1998}}</ref> Shevardnadze declared that one of the reasons he had not sent in the military was it was not combat-ready.<ref name="rferl1141669">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Georgian Army "Not Combat-ready" |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1141669.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Newsline|publisher=]|date=3 June 1998}}</ref>
==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. Georgian sources claim Abkhazia's losses to be much greater: At least 300 were killed and dozens wounded.<ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>


== Further reading ==
The hostilities resulted in hundreds of casualties on both sides and displaced an additional 30,000 - 40,000 Georgians. Although many families quickly returned, the clashes left some 1,500 homes and some infrastructure, including some that had been recently rehabilitated with international funding, in ruins. The United Nations Joint Assessment Mission to the Gali District confirmed in 2000 that homes and infrastructure were deliberately burned and looted during the Abkhaz offensive.<ref name="Today"> ''The ] ] Report N°176, 15 September 2006'', page 11. Retrieved on ] ]. ''Free registration needed to view full report''</ref>


* Aaron Belkin, ''United We Stand?; Divide-and-Conquer Politics and the Logic of International Hostility'' State University of New York Press, 2005.
==Georgian involvement==
The Georgian government stated that it had no connections with the guerrillas.<ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>


⚫ == References ==
At an extraordinary session of the Georgian-Abkhaz talks in Tbilisi on ], Georgia and Abkhazia endorsed a draft protocol obliging Sukhumi to withdraw its forces from Gali and Tbilisi to stop guerrilla warfare in the region. Thus, experts claimed, Georgian authorities indirectly acknowledged that they had certain control over guerrillas. However, the next day ], the ] once again stated that the Georgian government had nothing to do with guerrillas in Gali. <ref>http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_05_98.pdf</ref>
{{reflist}}

⚫ ==References==
{{Reflist}}


{{Georgian-Abkhazian conflict}} {{Georgian-Abkhazian conflict}}
{{Post-Cold War European conflicts}}

]
] ]
] ]
] ]

Latest revision as of 05:53, 27 December 2024

Ethnic conflict in Georgia For the war in 1992–1993, see War in Abkhazia (1992–1993).
War in Abkhazia (1998)
Part of the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict
Date18–26 May 1998
(1 week and 1 day)
LocationGali District, Abkhazia, Western Georgia
Result Abkhazian victory
Belligerents
 Abkhazia White Legion
Mkhedrioni
Forest Brotherhood
Commanders and leaders
Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh Zurab Samushia †
Dato Shengelia †
Gujar Kurashvili
Strength
1,500 troops 400 guerrillas
Casualties and losses
Abkhazia:
8 killed
17 wounded
Georgian sources:
300+ killed
dozens wounded		 Georgian sources:
17 killed
24 wounded
56 captured
6 missing
Abkhazia:
160 killed
35 Georgian civilians killed
30,000–40,000 displaced
Post-Soviet conflicts
Caucasus
Central Asia
Eastern Europe

The War in Abkhazia in 1998 took place in the Gali district of Abkhazia, after ethnic Georgians launched an insurgency against the Abkhazian separatist government. The conflict is sometimes referred to as the Six-Day War of Abkhazia; however, this name only takes into account the Abkhazian offensive that lasted from 20 to 26 May 1998, while hostilities and insurgent attacks had already occurred before that date.

Timeline

In the eighteen months prior to the war, Georgian paramilitary forces systematically attacked both Russian peacekeeping troops and the Abkhazian military.

In the beginning of May, 300 fighters from the Georgian paramilitary White Legion crossed into Abkhazia, whereupon the Abkhazian government placed its military on combat alert. The White Legion was said to have received orders from Tamaz Nadareishvili, head of Georgia's government in exile for Abkhazia and member of Georgia's Security Council. In addition, Tornike Berishvili, a leader of the Mkhedrioni, declared on 27 May that 100 of its men had also fought in Abkhazia. According to Georgian sources, on 2 and 3 May Georgian forces gained control of the villages of Saberio, near the Inguri Dam, and Khumushkuri, and killed six Abkhazian soldiers when Abkhazian forces tried to retake the two villages. On 12 May, Georgian MP Germane Patsatsia announced that he was resigning to join the Georgian guerillas in Abkhazia who he claimed had seized control of Gali District.

On 18 May, Georgian forces killed about twenty Abkhazian policemen in a surprise attack in the village of Repi. The next day, Abkhazian troops carried out reprisal attacks, resulting in ten to thirty deaths and causing Georgian residents to flee across the border. The following days saw minor, sporadic clashes as the Abkhazian Interior Ministry sent 800 more men into Gali District. Abkhazian forces were reported to set fire to Georgian homes.

On 22 May, the two sides signed a cease-fire agreement in Tbilisi, which was broken that same day when fighting broke out in the village of Tskhiri, killing four people. The next three days saw fierce fighting, with ITAR-TASS reporting the death of 40 Abkhazian soldiers, 4 Georgian soldiers and more than 20 Georgian civilians.

On 25 May, the Georgian and Abkhazian foreign ministers signed another cease-fire agreement in Gagra, set to take effect at 6:00 the following day, but fighting continued. On the night of 26 to 27 May, Abkhazian forces expelled the last Georgian guerillas.

Georgia's opposition blamed President Eduard Shevardnadze for losing the war by not supporting the guerillas with the Georgian Military. Shevardnadze declared that one of the reasons he had not sent in the military was it was not combat-ready.

Further reading

  • Aaron Belkin, United We Stand?; Divide-and-Conquer Politics and the Logic of International Hostility State University of New York Press, 2005.

References

  1. ^ Fuller, Liz (28 May 1998). "Controversial Georgian Paramilitary Organization Still Active". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  2. Bahcheli, Tozun (2004). De Facto States: The Quest For Sovereignty. Psychology Press. p. 151. ISBN 9780203485767.
  3. ^ "Okopka.ru: Татарченков Олег Николаевич. Рикошет (записки военного корреспондента)". okopka.ru.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2007-09-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Fuller, Liz (28 May 1998). "Abkhaz offensive ruins peace prospects". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  6. Cheterian, Vicken (December 1, 1998). "Ethnic conflict in Georgia". Le Monde diplomatique.
  7. Fuller, Liz (21 April 1998). "Loose Cannons in Abkhazia". Caucasus Report. Vol. 1, no. 8. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  8. Fuller, Liz (11 May 1998). "Georgia to become 'asymmetric federation?'". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  9. "Have Georgian guerrillas seized ground in Abkhazia". Monitor. Vol. 4, no. 85. Jamestown Foundation. 4 May 1998.
  10. Fuller, Liz (13 May 1998). "Georgian Parliamentary Deputy Quits to Join Guerrillas". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  11. Fuller, Liz (19 May 1998). "More guerrilla clashes in Abkhazia". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  12. Fuller, Liz (21 May 1998). "Georgians flee as Abkhaz fighting intensifies". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  13. Fuller, Liz (22 May 1998). "Situation on Georgian-Abkhaz border remains tense". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  14. Fuller, Liz (25 May 1998). "Abkhaz fighting continues..." Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  15. Fuller, Liz (26 May 1998). "Abkhaz fighting continues, despite cease-fire agreement". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  16. Fuller, Liz (27 May 1998). "Abkhaz Expel Georgian Guerrillas From Gali". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  17. Fuller, Liz (29 May 1998). "Georgian Opposition Blames Shevardnadze for Defeat". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  18. Fuller, Liz (3 June 1998). "Georgian Army "Not Combat-ready"". Newsline. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
Abkhaz–Georgian conflict
Key events
Abkhazian side
Military forces
Key leaders
Georgian side
Military forces
Key leaders
See also
Post–Cold War conflicts in Europe
Eastern Europe
Southern Europe
Related topics
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