Relatives of the four Georgians who went missing in the South Ossetian conflict zone on June 6 blocked the road into the village of Ergneti, cutting access to Tskhinvali, capital of the unrecognized republic, both the Ossetian and Georgian sources reported.
The protesters are demanding that the authorities in both Tbilisi and Tskhinvali intensify search operations for the four missing persons and find out their whereabouts.
Ergneti, which is south of Tskhinvali, is located a few kilometers away from the South Ossetian capital, on the administrative border. The road near the Georgian village of Kekhvi, which is north of Tskhinvali, has also been blocked by local residents and relatives of the four missing men. As a result of this recent closure of the road to Ergneti, Tskhinvali appeared to be blocked from the both the north and south sides.
This road, known as the Trans Caucasus Highway, is of vital importance for both the Georgian and Ossetian sides. The road via Tskhinvali provides the shortest access to Georgian villages located north of the South Ossetian capital. While, because of the closure of the road near the village of Kekhvi, those Ossetians moving from the north of the breakaway region to Tskhinvali have to use a by-pass road to access the capital, which makes the way about 2 hours longer.
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