OSCE Calls for Monitoring of Hills Taken Over by Georgian Troops

Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia Ambassador Roy Reeve confirmed on Thursday that the Georgian troops took over positions held by South Ossetian militias early on August 19.

He said at a news briefing in Tbilisi that overnight shellings of Georgian villages were carried out from the hills which are now under the control of the Georgian side.

Ambassador Reeve said that the joint peacekeeping troops, involving Georgian, Russian and Ossetian sides, should monitor these areas together with OSCE observers.

Earlier today Russian news agencies reported that the joint peacekeeping troops were barred from deployment on the hills by the Georgian internal troops.