Pankisi Gorge

Pankisi Gorge

The Pankisi Gorge (Lang-ka|პანკისის ხეობა, "Pankisis Kheoba") or Pankisi (პანკისი) is a valley region in Georgia, in the northeastern corner of the country, bordering the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation. Administratively, it is included in the Akhmeta district of the Kakheti region. An ethnic group called Kists of Chechen background form the majority in the area.

It had allegedly often been used as a base for transit, training and shipments of arms and financing by Chechen rebels and Islamic militants, many of whom followed Ruslan Gelayev.

Russia has attempted to attack the Chechen militants in the gorge. Georgia has also accused Russia of carrying out bombing raids in the gorge region in which at least one Georgian civilian was believed to have perished.

Landmine Monitor warns of antipersonnel mines being laid in the Gorge. A number of casualties have resulted in landmines still being encountered in the Gorge. [cite web
title=LM Report 2002
url=http://www.icbl.org/lm/2002/georgia.html
date=2005-02-25
accessdate=2007-01-15
] [cite web
title=LM Report 2006
url=http://www.icbl.org/lm/2006/georgia.html
date=2006-09-12
accessdate=2007-01-15
]

Under the Georgia Train and Equip Program, at the end of February 2002 the United States began training the Georgian military in response to the situation in the Gorge. It offered $64 million and approximately 200 Special Operations Forces were sent to train and equip four 300-man Georgian battalions with light weapons, vehicles and communications. Currently, the situation in the region is largely stable and the operation ended in September 2007.

References

External links

*Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program [http://www.eucom.mil/english/GSSOP/index.asp]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kist people — ethnic group group=Kists ქისტები poptime= 7,110 (2002 census) popplace=Khevsureti, Tusheti and Kakheti (Georgia) rels= Sunni Islam langs=Chechen related=Chechens, Ingushs, and Bats The Kists ( ka. ქისტები) are a Nakh speaking ethnic group in… …   Wikipedia

  • Georgia — /jawr jeuh/, n. 1. a state in the SE United States. 5,464,265; 58,876 sq. mi. (152,489 sq. km). Cap.: Atlanta. Abbr.: GA (for use with zip code), Ga. 2. Also called Georgian Republic. a republic in Transcaucasia, bordering on the Black Sea, N of… …   Universalium

  • Second Chechen War — Infobox War caption=Russian artillery shells separatist positions near the village of Duba Yurt, January 2000. conflict=Second Chechen War date= *Active battle phase: August 1999 May 2000 *Insurgency: May 2000 end of 2004 *Localised sporadic… …   Wikipedia

  • Guerrilla phase of the Second Chechen War (2000) — Timeline Russian troops averaged a loss of 200 men per month. [ [http://timelines.ws/countries/CHECHNYA.HTML Timeline Chechnya] ] May* May 4 The Russian military command said special forces troops have ambushed a column of Chechen insurgents near …   Wikipedia

  • Chechen refugees — During the inter ethnic strife in Chechnya and the two separatist First and Second Chechen Wars, hundreds of thousands of Chechen refugees have left their homes and left the republic for elsewhere in Russia and abroad. Contents 1 In Russia 1.1… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of the War on Terrorism — Campaign name=Campaigns and Operations of the War on Terrorism battles=Canada ndash; Afghanistan ndash; Spain ndash; OEF Philippines ndash; OEF Pankisi Gorge ndash; OEF Horn of Africa ndash; Iraq ndash; Saudi Arabia ndash; Waziristan ndash;… …   Wikipedia

  • Tengiz Kitovani — ( ka. თენგიზ კიტოვანი) (born June 9 1938) is a retired Georgian politician and military commander with high profile involvement in the Georgian Civil War early in the 1990s when he commanded the National Guard of Georgia and served as a Defense… …   Wikipedia

  • Georgia, Republic of, Relations with —    Georgia, one of the oldest Christian nations in the world, was incorporated into the Romanov Empire at the beginning of the 19th century. During the Russian Civil War, Georgia declared itself an independent democratic republic under Menshevik… …   Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation

  • Bats people — ethnic group group=Batsbi ბაცბი poptime= 3,000 approx. popplace=Tusheti (Georgia), Kakheti (Georgia) rels= Christian (Georgian Orthodox) langs=Bats, Georgian related=Chechens, Ingushs, and Kists The Bats people ( ka. ბაცი) or the Batsbi (ბაცბი)… …   Wikipedia

  • 2002 in Georgia (country) — yearbox in?=in Georgia (country) cp=20th Century c=21st century cf=22nd century yp1=1999 yp2=2000 yp3=2001 year=2002 ya1=2003 ya2=2004 ya3=2005 dp3=1970s dp2=1980s dp1=1990s d=2000s dn1=2010s dn2=2020s dn3=2030sIncumbents*President of Georgia:… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”