In Georgia, the breakaway region of Abkhazia mobilized troops to fight invading Georgian troops and Chechen rebels. Abkhazia also claimed that warplanes from Georgia was attacking Abkhazian towns. Georgia denies the attacks, but local gossip long held that Georgia had made a deal with tough Chechen rebel groups to get help in bringing the breakaway (since 1993) region to heel in return for allowing the Chechens to maintain bases across the border from Chechnya.