There is clearly a serious armed crisis near Georgia's border with the Russian republic of Daghestan, but it is not fully clear what exactly the crisis is all about. Georgian officials speak cautiously of a hostage-taking situation; 14 are reported dead. Hearsay and conspiracy theories fill in the gaps.
All morning, Georgian TV and online media rolled footage of military trucks carrying troops, an emergency government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili (and featuring Defense Minister Dimitri Shashkin, Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaia and Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili), and shots of scared residents of Lapankuri, the village home of some of the hostages. Security was tightened around military hospitals and officials kept talking about an ongoing pursuit of an unspecified armed group that purportedly had crossed into Georgia from Daghestan.
In short, it all went from a teaser to a thriller, when just enough action is shown not to reveal the plot.
Later in the afternoon, Georgian police posted videos showing two men from villages in the area who said they were taken hostage by about 15 “heavily armed” and “bearded” men; a description that, within the region, suggests a connection to fighters from Russia’s North Caucasus. Later, at about 4pm, the interior ministry said that three members of Georgia's special forces and 11 attackers had died in the standoff. Most of the Georgian hostages have been released, while another six hostage-takers have been surrounded by Georgian troops, the ministry said.
With so little information, possible reasons for the situation cited by regional media have run the gamut. Some suspect a connection, somehow, with the August 28 killing of Daghestani Sufi leader Sheikh Said-Afandi Chirkeisky. Others look at preparations for next month's Russian military exercises in the North Caucasus and speculate about Moscow's intentions.
The Georgian government has not specified against whom, exactly, it believes it is fighting, but reports that Russia’s regular army is not involved come as a relief for many in Georgia, where, after 2008, fears of repeated hostilities with Russia still run strong.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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