Georgia reports 'large-scale battles' in rebel region

07/07/2008

Georgia reports 'large-scale battles' in rebel region

Georgia's interior ministry on Thursday said "large-scale battles" wereunderway in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and confirmed thatrebels had destroyed a Georgian armoured personnel carrier."

Currently large-scale battles are underway near the village of Avnevi,"ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP, referring to aGeorgian-controlled village in South Ossetia."

A Georgian armoured personnel carrier was destroyed by South Ossetianmilitants near the village of Avnevi one hour ago and three Georgianpeacekeepers were wounded as a result," he said.

The statement was a rare confirmation by Georgia of a significant lossto the rebels.

Earlier, South Ossetian authorities said 18 people had been wounded byGeorgian fire overnight, while a Georgian government spokeswoman toldAFP that two Georgian servicemen had been hurt in attacks by separatists.

Russian news agencies said renewed artillery fire was heard inTskhinvali on Thursday afternoon.

Tensions have soared in South Ossetia since the rebels reported that sixpeople had died in weekend shooting.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin in a statement Thursday accused Georgia of "military preparations" close to the separatistcapital of Tskhinvali.

The head of South Ossetia's Security Council Anatoly Barankevich onThursday told Russian television that his forces had registered the"movement of heavy weaponry from the depths of Georgia to South Ossetia."Moscow and Tbilisi have sparred repeatedly over South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia, in recent months since Moscow announced it was boosting ties with the separatists.

Georgia's pro-Western government accuses Moscow of seeking to annex thetwo regions and derail its efforts to join the NATO military alliance,which Russia vehemently opposes.