TBILISI, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Rail traffic has been restored on a stretch of track in Georgia near its former republic of Abkhazia after a blast early Tuesday morning damaged a railway near the border, the Georgian Railways company said.

The explosion occurred at 07:30 local time (03:30 GMT) and damaged 6 meters (20 feet) of rails between Khobi and Zugdidi. There were no trains in the area at the time and no one was hurt in the incident.

Georgian Railways called the blast an act of sabotage.

"This is an obvious act of sabotage because a passenger train en route from Tbilisi to Zugdidi was scheduled to pass there two hours after the blast," said Irakly Ezugbaya, the company's general director.

A spokesman for the company said it has been established that the powerful explosive device was equipped with a timing mechanism.

Irma Stepnadze declined to comment on the proximity of the blast to the Abkhaz border. "We are not making any political statements," she said.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, another former Georgian republic, as independent states after last August's five-day war with Georgia, which attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have held Russian citizenship for several years.