TBILISI - Georgian forces have successfully repelled several attacks in a Georgian-controlled area of the rebel Abkhazia region, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in televised remarks Saturday.
"From the Abkhaz side there were several attempted attacks. All these attacks were repelled," Saakashvili said.
Earlier, Georgia's government said Russia was attacking civilians in the Kodori Gorge, a Georgian-controlled area of Abkhazia.
Georgian television also reported that Russian aircraft had bombarded two villages in the Kodori Gorge. Russia had yet to comment on either claim.
However Abkhazia's Russian-backed separatists said they had launched an operation to force Georgian troops from the area and Interfax quoted separatist leader Sergei Shamba as saying Abkhaz air forces were being deployed.
Abkhazia is one of two Russian-backed rebel regions of Georgia. The other is South Ossetia, where battles have been raging between Russian and Georgian forces since overnight Thursday-Friday.
The widening of fighting to the Kodori Gorge represented a further escalation of the conflict in Georgia, whose president has pursued a staunchly pro-Western policy.
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