A recent increase in violence in the Georgian secessionist region of Abkhazia could signal an attempt to sabotage renewed Georgian-Russian negotiations.(With Stratfor maps)
There has been a recent uptick in violence in the Georgian secessionist region of Abkhazia, with six people suffering injuries June 30 when two small bombs went off in trash bins in a parking lot across the street from a market in the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi. On the previous day, another six people were injured when two small bombs exploded in the Abkhaz Black Sea resort city of Gagra. Abkhaz authorities immediately blamed Georgians for the attacks, and they quickly announced that the border between Georgia and Abkhazia would close July 1 in response.
Violence and random attacks occur frequently inside Abkhazia and across the border in Georgia proper. This sudden spike in violence is most likely not random, but an attempt by the Abkhaz to sabotage a new opening of Georgia-Russia negotiations.