12:52, 29 April 2004

Adjarian armed units equipped with antiaircraft emplacements

Armed units under Aslan Abashidze are equipped with antiaircraft emplacements of the Strela and Igla types, reported the Georgian newspaper 24 Hours. According to a source in the Russian army, there are a lot of such emplacements on the Batumi base. But the head of the autonomy did not buy this armament from the Russian army since a special international contract is to be made to do it, but Moscow would not have given its consent for it. "Aslan Abashidze bought a large consignment of arms from Russian arsenals from Zviadists [followers of Zviad Gamsakhurdia] in 1994, and this armament is in the hands of General Dumbadze now," reported the newspaper. "Theoretically, it is possible to buy missiles in Chechnya for instance. Stingers can be bought in Georgia, on the territory of Abkhazia. The Russian army left a lot of military equipment there during hostilities."

Source: Our own information