Tbilisi, Tskhinvali Exchange Accusations over ‘Illegal Actions’

Tbilisi and Tskhinvali have accused each other of committing illegal actions and deploying unauthorized armed groups in some of the areas of the South Ossetian conflict zone.

On June 16 the Georgian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said that a monitoring of the conflict zone carried out on June 15 revealed the presence of three unauthorized South Ossetian militia groups in the adjacent areas of the Ossetian village of Zemo Prisi and the Georgian-administered village of Prisi, in the eastern part of the breakaway region’s capital, Tskhinvali. These three groups consisted each of eight, fifteen, and thirty armed Ossetian men, according to the Georgian MoD.

The Georgian MoD also protested against the South Ossetian side’s decision to “illegally reposition” its police post near the village of Avnevi.

The Georgian MoD noted in a statement issued on June 16 that these unauthorized actions by the South Ossetian side proves once again that the Russian peacekeeping troops in the conflict zone fail to fulfill their duties.

Tbilisi’s accusations came after the South Ossetian side expressed protest over the repositioning of a Georgian police post about 900 meters closer to the South Ossetian village of Zemo Prisi on June 14. The move, which was not coordinated with the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF) in the conflict zone, was also condemned by Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, the Commander of the JPKF.

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