Peoples of the Caucasus
The Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Abkhazian armed forces were officially created on 12 October 1992, after the outbreak of the 1992-1993 war with Georgia. The basis of the armed forces was formed by the ethnic Abkhaz National Guard created early in 1992 prior to the outbreak of the war. It also takes its roots from the Separate Regiment of Internal Troops, which was disbanded in 1991. During the war, the Abkhazian forces - with the critical support from the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, Cossack volunteers and Russian regular military units stationed in or near Abkhazia - succeeded in defeating the Georgian troops; Georgians, Armenians, Greeks, Russians and Abkhaz were killed. Roughly 200,000 to 250,000 Georgian civilians became Internally displaced persons (IDPs). Most of the military's weapons come from the Russian airborne division base in Gudauta, while others were captured from Georgian forces.