The Forest Brothers ( ka, ტყის ძმები, ''tq'is dz'mebi'') were a
guerrilla group consisting mostly of ethnic
Georgians
The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, ...
who remained in the breakaway republic of
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which ...
after the
Georgian regular army's defeat in the
War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
The War in Abkhazia was fought between Georgian government forces for the most part and Abkhaz separatist forces, Russian government armed forces and North Caucasian militants between 1992 and 1993. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fo ...
[, Stratfor] and resisted the
ethnic cleansing of Georgians in the disputed territory.
The group, along with another guerrilla group called the
White Legion, continued low-intensity guerrilla war against Abkhaz forces along the ceasefire line in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.
According to the Georgian Interior Ministry, under the cover of its
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ta ...
, the Forest Brothers engaged in
kidnappings
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
,
smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are variou ...
and other crimes.
[
The Forest Brothers were led by Dato Shengelia,]President of Georgia
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
in January 2004. On 4 February, the police arrested a large number of Forest Brothers in Zugdidi
Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი; xmf, ზუგდიდი or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kil ...
. On 11 February, Shengelia declared that he had reached an agreement with Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze
Giorgi Baramidze ( ka, გიორგი ბარამიძე; born January 5, 1968) is a Georgian politician who served as Vice-Prime Minister of Georgia and State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration from 2004 to 2012. On October 21, 2 ...
to lay down his arms.heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and bro ...
and methadone
Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroi ...
,[ and was convicted to 24 years of imprisonment. However, he was released in 2010 on account of bad health. On 22 February 2011, the Abkhazian delegation at the 25th meeting on incident prevention in Chuburkhindji questioned his release and demanded his extradition from the Georgian side for various serious crimes.]
In popular culture
The 1995 novel '' Our Game'' by John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
features a group of Ossetian mercenaries known as "The Forest," which may have been based on the Forest Brothers.
References
{{reflist
Guerrilla organizations
Military units and formations of Georgia (country)