Russia sends forces into Georgian rebel conflict

MEGVREKISI, Georgia (Reuters) – Tensions over Georgia’s rebel territory of South Ossetia exploded on Friday when Georgia tried to assert control over the region with tanks and rockets, and Russia sent forces to repel the assault.

Fighting between Georgian forces and Russian-backed separatists raged in and around Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, after Tbilisi sent troops to take back the territory, which broke away in the 1990s.


A senior Georgian security official said Russian jets had bombed the Vaziani military airbase outside the Georgian capital Tbilisi, and President Mikheil Saakashvili said 150 Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles had entered South Ossetia from neighboring Russia.

He also said Georgian forces had downed two Russian jets.

……The crisis, the first to confront Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
since he took office in May, looked close to spiraling into full-blown
war in a region emerging as a key energy transit route, and where
Russia and the West are vying for influence.

The roar of warplanes and the explosions of heavy shells were
deafening more than three km (two miles) away from Tskhinvali. Many
houses were ablaze.

Reuters