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Georgia: Abkhazia Separatists Seize Villages

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Aug 16, 2008 8:05 pm US/Eastern

Georgia: Abkhazia Separatists Seize Villages

CBS News Interactive: Georgia-Russia Dispute

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) ― Georgia's Foreign Ministry says Russian-backed separatists from the province of Abkhazia have seized 13 villages in Georgia and a power plant.

A ministry statement says Russian army units and separatist militants shifted the border of breakaway Abkhazia toward the Inguri River.

It says they set up temporary administration in 13 villages and put the Inguri hydropower plant under separatist control.

The claim could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Russian-backed Abkhazian fighters forced Georgians out of their last stronghold in the province earlier this week.

Fighting between Russian and Georgian forces raged in two breakaway regions -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- over the past week.

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