PanARMENIAN.Net
South Ossetian capital comes under fire, 3 killed
04.07.2008 14:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 3 people were shot dead and 11 injured after Georgia
allegedly attacked the capital of South Ossetia late on Thursday, the
state information and press website of Georgia’s breakaway republic
said on Friday.
Earlier, it was reported that two people had been killed in the
incident in Tskhinvali, where over 15 mortars were fired at the
capital.
"According to preliminary reports, three people were killed and around
11 people injured in an escalation [of the situation] and a special
Georgian military operation," the state website said.
Georgia fired in three directions "using mortar, grenade launchers and
fire arms." The villages of Ubiat and Dmenis were also attacked,
alongside Tskhinvali, South Ossetia said.
The joint peacekeeping forces deployed in the Georgian-South Ossetian
conflict zone have been put on high alert.
Tbilisi and Russian-led peacekeepers are currently deployed in the
region.
South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity has warned that military
hardware will be moved into the conflict zone if the incident is
repeated.
`South Ossetian units will open fire only as a last resort and on my
personal instruction. All of the enemy’s firing positions have been
located and will be eliminated at any moment," Kokoity said.
Although the Georgian Interior Ministry has so far failed to comment
on the incident, military observers from the Joint Peacekeeping Forces
and officers from the OSCE mission have already confirmed reports of
the attack.
However, according to unofficial police sources in Georgia’s Shida
Kartli region, bordering on the conflict zone, Georgian police
outposts came under fire from South Ossetian villages in the conflict
zone. Georgia returned fire, after which shelling continued for
several minutes, RIA Novosti reports.