Pankisi Gorge
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The Pankisi Gorge (Georgian: პანკისის ხეობა, Pankisis Kheoba) or Pankisi (პანკისი) is a valley region in Georgia, in the northeastern corner of the country, bordering Chechnya. 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.
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.[1][2]
As part of the "War on Terrorism", at the end of February 2002 the United States began offering assistance to Georgia to combat the militants, with $64 million and approximately 200 Special Operations Forces to train and equip four 300-man Georgian battalions with light weapons, vehicles and communications. Currently, the situation in the region is largely stable.
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