Moscow - One man was killed and two injured in an exchange of fire in the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia on Saturday, officials in the Abkhazian capital Sukhumi said.

The clash took place after Abkhazian border troops discovered a group of six people attempting to cross the border from mainland Georgia near the city of Gali, the Interfax agency cited Abkhazian officials as saying.

The casualties in the firefight were said to be intruders, who Abkhazia claims were Georgian saboteurs.

There was no comment from the Georgian side on the incident.

The South Caucasus region has seen a number of clashes since the August war between Georgia and Russia.

The leadership in Tbilisi has reiterated its territorial claims on the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Moscow has recently recognized as independent states.

There are currently more than 200 European Union monitors in the security zones around the disputed territories in the South Caucasus.

Russia continues to have troops stationed in the Georgian regions to protect against any attempted intervention by Tbilisi. (dpa)