More than 50 people were injured Wednesday as explosions tore through a munitions dump in the Moscow-backed breakaway Abkhazia region of Georgia, Russian news agencies reported.

The explosions occurred at the facility in Primorskiy, near the Black Sea, the region's health minister Tamaz Tsakhnakia told the agencies.

Nineteen holidaying Russians were among those who needed hospital treatment, most of whom had been hit by shrapnel.

All the injured were in stable condition, Tsakhnakia added.

The separatist province's interior minister Aslan Kobakhia confirmed no one had been killed at its munitions store on the shore of the Black Sea.

Abkhazia is internationally recognised as part of the tiny ex-Soviet nation of Georgia, but has claimed independence since a conflict after the collapse of the USSR.

Russia recognised the subtropical region -- along with another province South Ossetia -- as separate countries after a brief 2008 war with Georgia.

Moscow has thousands of troops stationed in the regions in what Georgia calls a military "occupation", and supports the two provinces financially.

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LOC Performance receives $49.1 million Bradley upgrade contract
Washington (UPI) Jul 17, 2017
LOC Performance has received a $49.1 million modification to an existing contract for Bradley Fighting Vehicle modification kits and installation. The modification, announced by the Department of Defense on Friday, is for the acquisition and modification work of 276 Bradley Engineering Change Proposal 1 kits and two sets of spare parts. This will be used to upgrade Bradley Fighting Vehi ... read more

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