Russian officer and two Georgian spies killed in Abkhazia

A Russian border officer and two Georgian terrorists have been killed in a shootout. The incident occurred on the border between Georgia and the republic of Abkhazia on Friday, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) press center.

"An FSB border squad came under fire while doing terrain reconnaissance in Abkhazia's Galsky district," said an FSB spokesman. Russian border patrol officers were fired on from automatic weapons as they were checking in an abandoned building. The Russian Federal Security service has confirmed that the group had crossed the border illegally and that they were members of the local terrorist underground and very high on Abkhazia’s most wanted list. It is possible that they were on a surveillance mission, preparing for yet another terrorist act."According to the Abkhazian State Security Service, the assailants, Vasha Sechinava and Malkhaz Kharchilava, were members of the Georgian Interior Ministry's…subversive group which was conducting reconnaissance and allegedly preparing acts of sabotage in Abkhazia," the spokesman said.Some Abkhazians RT talked to expressed a view that the attack may be a part of the usual scare tactics used by Georgian Special Forces just before high tourist season in Abkhazia’s Black Sea resorts, since the instability in Abkhazia may scare away Russian tourists.Russia and Abkhazia signed a treaty on joint border-patrol missions soon after Georgia’s 2008 attack on South Osetia and even though the overall situation in the Galsky district has been improving over the past months, unfortunately attacks similar to this one do happen. The independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was recognized by Russia following a five-day war in 2008. Since then Russia has been the guarantor of their security, deploying thousands of troops and border guards in the tiny republics.