Reports: Civilians Injured in South Ossetia Shootout
Two civilians ? an ethnic Georgian and an ethnic Ossetian – have reportedly been injured as a result of shootout that occurred in the South Ossetian conflict zone late on February 3, Georgian and South Ossetian sources reported on Sunday.
The shootout, for which the sides blame each other, erupted at about 10:30 pm Tbilisi time, the Georgian and South Ossetian reports say.
According to the officials in Tbilisi, Avtandil Longurashvili, a local resident of the Georgian village of Nikozi, was wounded after the village came under mortar attack from Tskhinvali, the breakaway region?s capital.
Meanwhile, the South Ossetian side reported that a local resident of Tskhinvali, Tamaz Margiev, was injured after the capital came ?under heavy fire? from the nearby Georgian villages of Nikozi, Avnevi, Eredvi and Ergneti.
The South Ossetian Press and Information Committee described the incident as an attempt by Georgian forces to take over Tskhinvali.
?I have given orders not to open fire in the direction of the villages. We have only targeted the location from where the shooting came,? Mikhail Mindzaev, the interior minister of the breakaway region, said in comments posted on the unrecognized republic?s web-site.
The press office of the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues said in a statement on February 4 that ?one attacker was injured? in response fire by the Georgian side.
?The Georgian side is committed to the peaceful principles of conflict resolution and we call on the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali to discuss all the problematic issues in a bilateral format in the frames of constructive dialogue,? the statement reads.
This is the third reported shootout in the South Ossetian conflict zone in a week.
Three South Ossetian militiamen were injured in a skirmish on January 28, and one Ossetian militiaman was reportedly wounded in a separate shooting incident in the conflict zone on February 1.
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