AP Report: Ossetia And Georgia Trade Gunfire
As official representatives of Ossetia and Georgia prepare to begin talks, reports are surfacing of border skirmishes:
Georgia and its breakaway region of South Ossetia have reported gunfire exchanges along their tense administrative border. No casualties have been reported.
The reported shootings occurred before talks with international monitors Thursday on efforts to diffuse tensions in the region following last year’s war between Georgia and Russia, which backs South Ossetia.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry says a police post in the village of Plavi came under automatic weapon fire for several minutes Wednesday night.
South Ossetia’s separatist government says about two hours later heavy-caliber weapons were fired on the village of Otrev, where about 15 families live. A government spokeswoman says villagers sought safety in nearby woods.
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April 24th, 2009 at 02:43
looks like another incident along the Georgia – South Otessia border last night:
S. Ossetian village fired at from Georgia
24.04.2009, 11.21
TSKHINVAL, April 24 (Itar-Tass) –A South Ossetian village came under machine-gun fire from the territory of Georgia on Thursday night, Ibrahim Gasseev, South Ossetian Deputy Defence Minister, told Itar-Tass on Friday.
According to his information, “a Cobra armoured vehicle moved from the Georgian village of Dirbi towards the South Ossetian border at about 01.00 on Thursday night. The village of Velit, Znauri District of South Ossetia, was fired at from a large-calibre machine-gun off the armoured vehicle.”
Gasseev said that “international military observers stated on many occasions that Georgia did not have large-calibre weapons in the zone of their responsibility, and that it needs Cobra armoured vehicles only for police patrolling.”
“Such provocations have taken place many times of late. We shall take adequate measures in the future,” he said.
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2….1802&PageNum=0