Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

That pro-American freak Michael Saakashvili just lost his mind....

Georgia starts bombarding South Ossetia

Georgia is reported to start bombardment of South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali and villages near the border. At least 3 people are said to be injured.

Georgia is reported to start bombardment of South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali and villages near the border. At least 3 people are said to be injured.

"Around half past twelve the bombardment of Tskhinvali started. We don’t know who is shooting. It sounds like mortar and artillery fire, we can hear very loud explosions. On Wednesday night the curfew was introduced for the capital of South Ossetia," Mahmoud Kanbar, correspondent of RT's Arab Language sister channel Rusiya Al-Ayum, reported from South Ossetian capital.

Reports throughout Wednesday suggest there have been a number of border shootouts between Georgian special forces and the South Ossetian military, using small arms and heavy artillery. Georgia is offering direct talks with South Ossetia, but the separatist republic insists that Russia and North Ossetia should also be involved.

The leader of the self-proclaimed republic, Eduard Kokoity said the situation is “very serious”.

”Georgia has tried to build a fortified structure, a block post near the Nuli village. Our reaction to such actions will be very tough because we see them as bandits who open fire on our civilians,” he said.

“Russia is putting in a great deal of effort to promote the idea of peace talks. We treat such initiatives with understanding and believe they are necessary. But we insist on the talks including Russia and North Ossetia. We will not hold one-to-one discussions with Georgia,” Kokoity said.

VIDEO -- http://russiatoday.com/news/news/28571/video

READ MORE -- http://russiatoday.com/news/news/28571

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Looks like the American agent received orders to stop.

----------------------

Georgia offers S Ossetia ceasefire



Georgia has offered South Ossetian separatists an immediate ceasefire following days of heavy fighting.

Following clashes on Thursday, Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president, said he had ordered Georgian forces not to return fire.

In a televised address, Saakashvili said: "I offer you an immediate ceasefire and the immediate beginning of talks."

He repeated an offer of "full autonomy" for the breakaway region.

Jonah Hull, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Moscow, described the offer as an "olive branch".

"It was turning into a situation where we were waiting and wondering which side would back down first.

"It seems that Georgia is offering here some sort of an olive branch. It's certainly an admission and a sign of just how serious things have become in South Ossetia," he said.

"It's also a sign perhaps of how unwilling Georgia is to be drawn into a full-scale conflict, knowing very well that that would jeopordise its cherished chances of joining Nato."

Fighting between Georgian soldiers and forces from the breakaway region of South Ossetia wounded up to 20 people on Thursday.

Both sides blame each other for the conflict.

Casualties

The de facto government in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, said that 18 people had been wounded by Georgian fire.

Marina Salukvadze, a spokeswoman for Temur Yakobashvili, the Georgian re-integration minister, said two Georgian servicemen were also wounded after attacks on Georgian positions by South Ossetian forces.

Tensions over South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia, have been rising since Russia said it was establishing formal ties with the separatists.

A Russian envoy has arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital.

South Ossetia said that six people had died in fighting over the weekend.

From http://english.aljazeera.net/news/eu...834382644.html

[To_Es_El_Qo]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Georgia starts storming South Ossetian capital despite ceasefire

Firing resumed in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone. Georgian troops one-sidedly breached the ceasefire declared by both sides several hours ago.

Approximately at 11:30 p.m. Moscow time fire was opened from heavy artillery from the side of the Georgian villages of Ergneti, Nikozi against the city of Tskhinval, the Defense Ministry of South Ossetia announced on Thursday. A REGNUM correspondent reports that Georgian troops have started storming the city.

To remind, several hours ago, the Georgian and the Ossetian side agreed on a ceasefire till tomorrow talks, as on Friday an emergent meeting of the Georgian State Secretary for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili and Ossetian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Chochiyev.

http://www.regnum.ru/english/accidents/1037974.html


South-Ossetian-Georgian ceasefire comes to a prompt end
Shelling is said to have resumed in the South-Ossetian-Georgian conflict zone. Reports say the capital of Georgia's breakaway republic Tskhinvali has come under heavy fire. There are reports of victims on both sides.

Strikes are being carried by large-calibre weapons. Reports say the center of Tskhinvali has been hit hard, and electricity to the city has been cut.

The President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokity claims Georgia has started to storm the city.

Georgia says it was forced to break the ceasefire, orderd by President Saakashvili earlier in the day, after South Ossetia opened fire.

Tbilisi claims the resumption of shelling comes after heavy strikes on several Georgian villages from South Ossetia.

Earlier Georgia and its breakaway republic of South Ossetia had declared a temporary ceasefire in order to hold talks, which Russia had agreed to mediate.

http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/28629

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Georgia attacks S. Ossetia!....

..........BREAKING NEWS.............

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:24:19 GMT

Georgia has attacked the region of South Ossetia and clashes are taking place near the regional capital Tskhinvali.

The statement was made by the Georgian Interior Ministry on Friday.

"An attack is underway, clashes are taking place outside Tskhinvali," Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utyashvili told AFP. This news came within hours of reports that Georgia and South Ossetia had agreed to meet Friday for talks.

According to officials, up to 12 people were killed and more than 20 injured during Thursday's clashes. "Tskhinvali is being shot at by mortar and heavy weapons from the Georgian villages of Nikozi and Ergneti and some houses are burning," RIA Novosti reported quoting an official speaking for Ossetia's Ministry of Emergency Situations.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=65912&sectionid=351020606

From BBC:

Heavy fighting in South Ossetia

Georgian forces and South Ossetian separatists have been exchanging heavy fire just hours after agreeing to a ceasefire and Russian-mediated talks. Fighting broke out after a brief lull in a day of heavy fighting in which 12 people were reportedly killed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7546639.stm

Saakashvili lost his mind....

[KarotheGreat]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

NP it's much worse the Georgians are storming the capital now.

[yerazhishda]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

TOP NEWS FROM THE BBC...
source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7546639.stm


South Ossetian troops have been trading heavy fire (Russian TV grab)


Heavy fighting in South Ossetia

Georgian forces and South Ossetian separatists have been exchanging heavy fire just hours after agreeing to a ceasefire and Russian-mediated talks.

Fighting broke out after a brief lull in a day of heavy fighting in which 12 people were reportedly killed.

Russian media reported that hundreds of fighters from Russia and Abkhazia were heading to aid the separatist troops.

Russia, which has close ties with South Ossetia, has claimed Georgia is ready to overrun the breakaway province.

Moscow-based Interfax news agency quoted the head of Russia's province of North Ossetia, Taimuraz Mamsurov, as saying: "Hundreds of volunteers from North Ossetia are on their way to South Ossetia. We cannot stop them or prevent them from going."

It also quoted Sergei Bagapsh, the head of Georgia's other breakaway province of Abkhazia, as saying: "About 1,000 Abkhaz volunteers are leaving for South Ossetia."

Meanwhile, the head of Georgian peacekeepers in South Ossetia said they were going to "restore constitutional order" to the region.

"We had demanded that [the separatists] sit at the negotiating table but all of this was met with a backwards reaction and there was constant shooting," said Brig Gen Mamuka Kurashvili.

'Perfidious step'

Earlier, South Ossetian rebel leader Eduard Kokoity told Interfax that Georgia had launched an all-out attack on the town of Tskhinvali, in what he called "a perfidious and base step".

Up to 10 Georgian soldiers died in Thursday's clashes, the Georgian interior ministry told AFP news agency.

Separatist authorities claimed on their website two civilians had been killed after coming under Georgian attack.

Days of fierce conflict have raised fears of a new war in the volatile Caucasus.

In a televised address, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili earlier called for the bloodshed to end, but also warned the separatists not to try Tbilisi's patience.

A truce was later announced, with emergency talks set for Friday, but by nightfall, both sides were trading heavy fire.

Georgia accuses Russia of arming the South Ossetian authorities - who have been trying to break away since the civil war in the 1990s. Moscow denies the claim.

President Saakashvili has vowed to restore Tbilisi's control over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia.

The Ossetians have traditionally had good relations with Russia, and North Ossetia is part of the Russian Federation.

Russia is hostile to Georgia's ambition to join Nato and has accused Georgia of building up its forces around the breakaway regions, where Russian peacekeeping troops are deployed.

*****************

What does this mean for Armenia? What does it mean for Javakh if South Ossetia gains sovereignty? If it doesn't? What does this mean for Russian-Armenian and Georgian-Armenian relations?

[KarotheGreat]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

TOP NEWS FROM THE BBC...
source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7546639.stm


South Ossetian troops have been trading heavy fire (Russian TV grab)


Heavy fighting in South Ossetia

South Ossetian troops have been trading heavy fire (Russian TV grab)
Georgian forces and South Ossetian separatists have been exchanging heavy fire just hours after agreeing to a ceasefire and Russian-mediated talks.

Fighting broke out after a brief lull in a day of heavy fighting in which 12 people were reportedly killed.

Russian media reported that hundreds of fighters from Russia and Abkhazia were heading to aid the separatist troops.

Russia, which has close ties with South Ossetia, has claimed Georgia is ready to overrun the breakaway province.

Moscow-based Interfax news agency quoted the head of Russia's province of North Ossetia, Taimuraz Mamsurov, as saying: "Hundreds of volunteers from North Ossetia are on their way to South Ossetia. We cannot stop them or prevent them from going."

It also quoted Sergei Bagapsh, the head of Georgia's other breakaway province of Abkhazia, as saying: "About 1,000 Abkhaz volunteers are leaving for South Ossetia."

Meanwhile, the head of Georgian peacekeepers in South Ossetia said they were going to "restore constitutional order" to the region.

"We had demanded that [the separatists] sit at the negotiating table but all of this was met with a backwards reaction and there was constant shooting," said Brig Gen Mamuka Kurashvili.

'Perfidious step'

Earlier, South Ossetian rebel leader Eduard Kokoity told Interfax that Georgia had launched an all-out attack on the town of Tskhinvali, in what he called "a perfidious and base step".

Up to 10 Georgian soldiers died in Thursday's clashes, the Georgian interior ministry told AFP news agency.

Separatist authorities claimed on their website two civilians had been killed after coming under Georgian attack.

Days of fierce conflict have raised fears of a new war in the volatile Caucasus.

In a televised address, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili earlier called for the bloodshed to end, but also warned the separatists not to try Tbilisi's patience.

A truce was later announced, with emergency talks set for Friday, but by nightfall, both sides were trading heavy fire.

Georgia accuses Russia of arming the South Ossetian authorities - who have been trying to break away since the civil war in the 1990s. Moscow denies the claim.

President Saakashvili has vowed to restore Tbilisi's control over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia.

The Ossetians have traditionally had good relations with Russia, and North Ossetia is part of the Russian Federation.

Russia is hostile to Georgia's ambition to join Nato and has accused Georgia of building up its forces around the breakaway regions, where Russian peacekeeping troops are deployed.

the ceasef-fire has already been broken the fighting is still continuing and russian troops are almost in ossetia as are many volluntiers and abkhazia also said they'll jon the war.

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Look at the intensity in this video of the fighting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548611.stm

[yerazhishda]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

I wonder why the American media has been ignoring this dire situation.

Compare www.cnn.com to www.bbc.com. Among CNN's Latest news is "Lost Boy" to Carry Olympic Torch" and "Mega-preacher's wife sued". All the way at the bottom is a small mention of the Georgian disaster. I'm surprised at the prevalence of gossip over real news.

[aray]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Maybe because America is the one who approved this war?

I am disappointed on Russia’s reaction on this. This whole thing is like a slap in the Russia’s face. UN Security Council meeting request? That’s all? This is really strange. Tskhinvali was attacked by heavy artillery, now tanks and aviation with 5 SU 25s attacking the city. If they give up the city, there will be not much left of South Ossetia. I guess gorilla war would be the only option.

I wonder why the American media has been ignoring this dire situation.

Compare www.cnn.com to www.bbc.com. Among CNN's Latest news is "Lost Boy" to Carry Olympic Torch" and "Mega-preacher's wife sued". All the way at the bottom is a small mention of the Georgian disaster. I'm surprised at the prevalence of gossip over real news.