Georgian officials say an explosion killed the mayor of a small town and one other person Saturday near the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The Interior Ministry said it suspects the explosives were detonated by remote control, and blames the attack on Abkhaz separatists.

The blast hit as officials in the town of Mujhava inspected a house that was damaged in an earlier grenade attack.

Tensions have been high in Abkhazia and in another breakaway region, South Ossetia.  Russian forces swept into Georgia in August after Georgian troops tried to regain control of South Ossetia.

Russian soldiers withdrew from most of Georgia earlier this month, but remain in the breakaway regions.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.