By Margarita Antidze
TBILISI, July 26 (Reuters) - Georgian forces captured most of a strategic gorge on Wednesday, despite Russian fears the assault on the rebellious stronghold could re-ignite conflict in the neighbouring breakaway region of Abkhazia.
The clashes in Kodori gorge -- a gateway to the Black Sea province of Abkhazia which has enjoyed de facto independence since 1993 -- alarmed Abkhaz separatists, suspicious of any government military build-up in the area.
At least two servicemen were slightly wounded, said President Mikhail Saakashvili's chief of staff.
Russia, its peacekeepers in the area on high alert, warned its ex-Soviet neighbour against violating the ceasefire that ended the conflict in which Abkhazia broke away.
Part of the gorge is controlled by Abkhaz separatists, while the northern part had been under government control through the local Monadire (Hunter) militia leader Emzar Kvitsiani.
But on Sunday, Kvitsiani declared he would no longer obey Tbilisi. Troops now face up to 70 heavily armed Kvitsiani supporters, Chief of Staff Georgy Arveladze said.
"The anti-criminal operation is going on with great success," said Arveladze, adding that almost all villages in the gorge had been taken.
"Kvitsiani has gone into hiding, but police units have blocked all roads and are trying not to let him escape into Abkhazia."
In the 1990s Kvitsiani's militia played a key role in preventing Abkhazia seizing the northern part of the gorge.
But Saakashvili, whose troops have been trained by U.S. instructors, tried to dissolve the militia in 2005 as part of his drive to establish direct control over all of the country.
NO WIDER CONFLICT
The gorge was one of the routes Georgian troops took in a failed bid to establish control over Abkhazia in 1992-93.
Abkhaz separatists fear Tbilisi could use the operation to concentrate forces in the gorge and then use it as a springboard for a strike to win back control of the province.
"In the case of anyone crossing the border with Abkhazia, we will shoot to kill, whoever is coming," Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh said in televised comments.
Russian peacekeepers, whom Georgia accuses of propping up the Abkhaz authorities, took state TV reporters to fly over the wooded gorge, which rises steeply from a rushing torrent.
Their cameras failed to record any fighting, but they also showed the peacekeepers -- all but indistinguishable from regular Russian forces -- test-firing their heavy machineguns and checking their mortars and other equipment.
"We are following the development of the situation in the most attentive way. We have warned our Georgian colleagues that any violation of the (ceasefire) agreements is unacceptable," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Under the terms of the 1993 ceasefire, Russia sent troops to separate the sides. Georgia now accuses Russia of siding with the rebel government, which has its budget supplemented by Russia, and has demanded the troops withdraw.
The Kodori fighting comes days after Russia and Georgia traded accusations over a second rebel region of South Ossetia, where a number of bombing incidents prompted Moscow to warn Tbilisi against any attempt to regain control.