Georgian security forces began to mobilize against al-Qaeda fighters in the remote and mountainous Pankisi Gorge, with US military instructors to start training elite counter-terrorism units this month. But despite stringent road checks manned by Georgian soldiers on the highway leading up to the gorge's main settlement, Duisi, local inhabitants said it was easy to avoid the security measures. "There are at the very least five checkpoints," said a Duisi resident, Murtaz. "The police and military are trying to control the access roads. But if you want to, it is not difficult to get around them."
At each checkpoint, marked off by two barriers, some 15 interior ministry troops and police check the documents of every car and people on foot. Another 40 soldiers are in reserve.
It's a start. Not much of a start, but a start. |