‘Relatively Quiet’ but Tensions Remain High in S.Ossetia

Sporadic shooting was reported overnight on August 3 in the South Ossetian conflict zone, a day after the deadliest clashes in years.

The South Ossetian side reported that its villages in the Znauri district, including Mugut and a couple of other small nearby villages came under fire at about 3am local time on August 3. The South Ossetian Press and Information Committee said that there were no casualties.

The Georgian side, meanwhile, accused Tskhinvali of opening fire first, specifically on its post in the village of Dvani, close to the Ossetian village of Mugut. It said that there were no casualties on the Georgian side either.

Yuri Morozov, the prime minister of breakaway South Ossetia, told Russian television on August 3 that despite the shooting, last night was “relatively calm.”

“Overall, the situation, however, remains very tense,” he added.

Six people were killed and 22 injured in one of the most intense shootouts in years in the South Ossetian conflict zone late on August 1 and overnight on August 2.

Russian television, devoting extensive coverage to the latest developments in the region, aired footage of busloads of children and women being evacuated from Tskhinvali and nearby villages.

The authorities in the breakaway region say that they are sending children and women to Russia’s North Ossetian Republic fearing more clashes.

“We are forced to evacuate children; today we sent the first convoy of buses of children to Vladikavkaz [North Ossetia],” Zamira Jioeva, the breakaway region’s education minister, said in remarks posted on the South Ossetian Press and Information website on August 3. “All the necessary conditions have been created in Vladikavkaz for our children.”

A total of 534 people, including 390 children, were sent from the breakaway region.

Teimuraz Mamsurov, the head of Russia’s North Ossetian Republic, told journalists on August 3 that there was “no large flow of refugees” from South Ossetia into North Ossetia.

Ermak Dzansolov, the deputy prime minister of the North Ossetian Republic, also told Interfax news agency that it was not "an evacuation." He explained the movement as part of a pre-arranged summer-camp programme. 

The South Ossetian side has also accused Tbilisi to dispatching military units, including artillery systems, close to the region’s border. Tbilisi, however, has denied the allegation.

In an interview with Russian TV station Rossiya on 2 August, Eduard Kokoity, the South Ossetian leader, suggested that the Georgian side had “staged the provocations” in order to thwart a meeting of the quadripartite negotiating body  – the Joint Control Commission (JCC). Tbilisi has been boycotting the forum for some time.

He said that Yuri Popov, the Russian chief negotiator, was visiting Tskhinvali in an attempt to help organize a JCC meeting. The Georgian side, Kokoity claimed, had given its “preliminary consent” to hold a JCC meeting.

“At the last moment, however, the Georgian side staged more provocations, which resulted in the events everyone saw happen overnight [on August 2],” he said.
 
Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, traveled to the conflict zone on August 2 and met with Marat Kulakhmetov, the Russian commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF) stationed there. The JPKF consists of Russian, Russia’s North Ossetian and Georgian battalions.

Iakobashvili said that he was ready to meet officials from Tskhinvali; they, however, refused to meet him.

It was reported that during the meeting with the Russian peacekeeping commander, the Georgian side insisted on the need to open a JFPK post in the village of Didi Gupta.

The village is located at the northern extreme of the conflict zone – an area defined as a 15-km radius around the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. The village is on a strategic road, which is described by the South Ossetian side as “the road of life.” It links the breakaway region’s capital of Tskhinvali with the north of the region, without having to go through Georgian-administered villages. Tbilisi hopes that an observation post at Didi Gupta will prevent trafficking of arms within the conflict zone.

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