Georgian Side Reopens Main Road in S.Ossetia for Civilians

Paata Bedianashvili, commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion stationed in the South Ossetian conflict zone, said on February 20 that the Georgian side has decided to reopen the main road in the region for both Ossetian and Georgian civilians.

“The road will be closed only for the Russian peacekeepers,” he told reporters.

The Georgian side blocked roads to Tskhinvali, both from the north and south, on February 19 after the South Ossetian side announced that a planned rotation of the Georgian peacekeepers in the conflict zone was illegal and refused to let the Georgian peacekeepers move through Tskhinvali.

Bedianashvili said that restrictions on the main road in the conflict zone will remain until the Georgian peacekeepers are allowed to travel to the Georgian village of Achabeti via Tskhinvali. Achabeti is north of Tskhinvali.