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Georgian Forces Break through Tskhinvali Defense
Georgia is continuing its desperate attempts to take possession of Tskhinvali. The Georgian military continues intentionally to target the civilian population in its path, leading to the accusation, voiced several times, that Tbilisi’s main goal is the genocide of the Ossetian people. The South Ossetian State Committee for the Press and Mass Information reports that Georgian formations broke through the defenses of the Tskhinvali from the south after having been driven out by Russian forces. Fighting has been resumed in the city with renewed strength.
Georgian forces are using all forms of weapons at their disposal in residential neighborhoods of the South Ossetian capital. Those include artillery, Grad missiles, grenade launchers, personnel carriers and tanks. South Ossetian forces are being overwhelmed. Russian subdivisions have already been dispatched to aid them.
Georgian tank subdivisions are also attempting to take control of the Zari road, which connects Tskhinvali to North Ossetia. “Georgian tanks… are pressing toward the strategically important Zari road from the village of Khetagurovo,” the South Ossetian State Committee for the Press reports, but Interfax states that the Georgian forces have not taken the road.
Many civilians remain in the ruined city of Tskhinvali. Women, children and the elderly who have survived the attack are appealing to the Russian leadership and the world community to organize a corridor for their escape. Russian and foreign journalists working in the conflict zone are also demanding a safety corridor. At present, there is no possibility of creating an evacuation route.
The number of deaths from the hostilities has exceeded 2000, according to the latest information. The number of injured cannot be counted yet. Thousands of people are trying to leave the republic. The Russian Emergencies Ministry has set up a mobile hospital on the border with South Ossetia.
The Russian border service is denying reports in the Georgian media that there has been an explosion in the Roki tunnel, RIA Novosti reports, citing the head of the North Caucasus department of the border service press service. The press officer stated that servicemen in the area of the tunnel have confirmed that “everything is calm and ambulances continue to bring the wounded through from the South Ossetian side.” The Roki tunnel is on the border between North and South Ossetia. It is being used to move Russian hardware and infantry into South Ossetia and to bring the wounded out of the conflict zone.
Novosti-Gruzia quotes Georgian Defense Ministry spokesmen as saying that the Georgian military has broken though to the Roki tunnel, however.
A Georgian bomber has been downed and 12 Georgian tanks destroyed in the onslaught against Tskhinvali, the website of the State Committee for Press and Mass Information states. “Artillery fire stopped in Tskhinvali at 23:50, after a five-hour battle,” an account on the website reads. “The tank storm has been turned back. Twelve Georgian tanks were destroyed on the southern edge of Tskhinvali. One Georgian sniper and two other gunmen were killed. A Georgian bomber was downed.”
www.kommersant.com
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Photo: NTV
