The newly appointed prime minister of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia has survived an assassination attempt, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

Gunmen opened fire at Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab’s car late Monday, the news agency cited the Abkhazian Interior Ministry. Ankvab was riding in another car at the time, Interfax said.

Abkhazian television reported that the car was hit by 17 bullets. Interfax reported that no one was injured in the attack.

Alexander Ankvab became Prime Minister of Abkhazia on Feb. 14 this year.

Abkhazia has run its own affairs since 1993, cultivating close ties with Russia. No government recognizes it as independent, but many of its residents have Russian citizenship, and Georgian authorities accuse Russia of supporting its separatist leadership.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has pledged to reunite his fractured country by bringing Abkhazia and another separatist region, South Ossetia, back into the fold. The breakaway regions, however, have rejected offers of broad autonomy.

MOS NEWS