Rebels fighting to restore former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia to power destroyed a television tower in the Black Sea port of Poti early Monday, defying a government order to withdraw.
Government and rebel forces clashed in scattered fighting across the west of Georgia.The rebels, who hold Poti, destroyed the tower with explosives to block transmission of state broadcasts from Tbilisi, the capital. Rebels accuse state TV of spreading misinformation.
The Georgian military had ordered the rebels to withdraw from Poti by today or face a major offensive. There was no immediate sign of an attack by government forces.
Inland from Poti, skirmishing between rebels and troops loyal to the central government was reported around the town of Khoni and the rail junction of Samtredia.
There were no reports of casualties, but both sides accused each other of shelling civilian areas.
After nine days of fighting, government forces have failed to make significant gains in their drive to recapture towns held by Gamsakhurdia supporters in Mingrelia region, his native stronghold in western Georgia.
Speaking at a rally in Zugdidi, the regional capital, on Sunday, Gamsakhurdia repeated his call for Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze to resign.