Bagramyan Battalion
The Bagramyan Battalion (Armenian: Բաղրամյանի անվան գումարտակ) was a battalion formed in Abkhazia, Georgia and predominantly composed of ethnic Armenians living in Abkhazia that fought together with separatist Abkhaz forces during the War in Abkhazia (1992–93).[1] Named in honour of the Soviet Armenian Marshal Ivan Bagramyan, the battalion's declared purpose was to expel Georgian forces from Georgian territory and support Russo-Abkhazian forces.[2]
On 10 May 1998, during hostilities leading to Six-Day War in Abkhazia (20–26 May 1998), there was a fire initiated on one of administrative buildings of the power grid in Mziuri. No one was injured in the attack. The Tbilisi-based Prime-News agency reported it was done by the members of the battalion.[3] According to the official Georgian reports, the battalion was dispatched by the de facto Abkhaz authorities to the predominantly Georgian-populated Gali district specifically for punitive operations.[4]
References
- ^ Bagramyan Battalion MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
- ^ Abkhazia Armenians: Holding a home in an unstable territory, AGBU, 1 November 2004
- ^ Bagramyan Battalion attacked Utilities target (May 10, 1998, Georgia), Information Source Tbilisi Prime-News
- ^ Vakhtang Kholbaia, Raphiel Gelantia, David Latsuzbaia, Teimuraz Chakhrakia (trans. Nana Japaridze-Chkhoidze; 1999), Labyrinth of Abkhazia, page 34. The Parliament of Georgia, Tbilisi.
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