Supporters of a candidate in a disputed presidential election in the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia stormed government buildings on Friday, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. "What's going on can be described only seen as mass unrest," Interfax quoted Nodar Khashba, Abkhazia's prime minister, as saying.
Abkhazia, a sliver of territory on the Black Sea coast which broke away from Georgia in a 1992-3 war but is not recognised internationally, held an election for president on October 3 in defiance of Tbilisi.
An electoral commission and a court declared Sergei Bagapsh the winner. His main rival, Raul Khadzhimba, who was backed by both Moscow and the outgoing Abkhaz president, complained of electoral irregularities and called for a new poll.
Bagapsh's supporters, enraged at calls for fresh elections, broke through a police cordon on Friday and took over government buildings in the capital Sukhumi.
Abkhazia is home to just a few hundred thousand people but its fate is closely watched because of the friction it causes between Russia and Georgia and its potential to upset the fragile stability of the ethnically diverse Caucasus region.
Khashba said he had ordered guards not to open fire in order "to avoid irreparable results" but Interfax said they fired into the air in a vain attempt to keep the crowds at bay.
Bagapsh's supporters surged into the building regardless and went up to the third floor, shouting their victory through the smashed windows, Itar-Tass news agency said.
Russian state television showed hundreds of men massing in a square in Sukhumi and scuffles breaking out among rival supporters. Interfax said one person was hurt in the clashes.
Zaur Mikvabiya, leader of a pro-Bagapsh party, said the crowds would leave and return the buildings to government control as Bagapsh had no intention of occupying the president's offices until his inauguration in December, Interfax reported.