Aid workers in Georgia say thousands of people have fled their homes after days of fighting between Georgian and Abkhaz militias in the border region of Gali.

A United Nations worker said up to thirty-thousand people had abandoned their villages, and that many were sheltering in crowded schools and hospitals.

She said the bulk of those fleeing were likely to be Georgians who travel regularly between Abkhazia and Georgia, but that more than five-thousand appeared to be new refugees.

Fighting between Georgians and Abkhazians has subsided and the UN is patrolling the border zone.

But eye-witnesses say Abkhaz fighters have been burning villages to stop the Georgians returning.