Russian tanks roll into Georgia to support breakaway province: Hundreds of civilians killed in fierce fighting

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DZHAVA (Georgia), Aug 8: Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases after Georgia launched a major military offensive on Friday to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.

Hundreds of civilians were reported dead in the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won de facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Witnesses said the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was devastated.

“I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars,” said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who had fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. “It’s impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged.”

The fighting broke out as much of the world’s attention was focused on the start of the Olympic Games and many leaders, including Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Bush, were in Beijing.

The timing suggests Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili may have been counting on surprise to fulfil his longtime pledge to wrest back control of South Ossetia — a key to his hold on power.

Saakashvili agreed the timing was not coincidental, but accused Russia of being the aggressor. “Most decision makers have gone for the holidays,” he said in an interview with CNN. “Brilliant moment to attack a small country.”

Saakashvili said Georgia, which has 2,000 troops in Iraq, was calling home its troops from the war-ravaged country.

The United States was sending an envoy to the region on Friday to meet with the parties involved to try to end hostilities.

“We support Georgia’s territorial integrity,” State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters. “We are working on mediation efforts to secure a ceasefire.”

South Ossetian separatist leader Eduard Kokoity claimed hundreds of civilians had been killed.

Ten Russian peacekeepers were killed and 30 wounded when their barracks were hit in Georgian shelling, said Russian Ground Forces spokesman Col. Igor Konashenkov. Russia has soldiers in South Ossetia as peacekeeping forces but Georgia alleges they back the separatists.

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia, a staunch US ally, has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership — a bid Moscow regards as part of a western effort to weaken its influence in the region.

Speaking earlier on Georgian television, Saakashvili accused Russia of sending aircraft to bomb Georgian territory, which Russia denied.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it was sending reinforcements for its peacekeepers, and Russian state television and Georgian officials reported a convoy of tanks had crossed the border. The convoy was expected to reach the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, by evening, Channel One television said.

Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili said government troops were now in full control of the city.

“We are facing Russian aggression,” said Georgia’s Security Council chief Kakha Lomaya. “They have sent in their troops and weapons and they are bombing our towns.”

Putin has warned that the Georgian attack will draw retaliation and the Defence Ministry pledged to protect South Ossetians, most of whom have Russian citizenship.

Chairing a session of his Security Council in the Kremlin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also vowed that Moscow will protect Russian citizens.

“In accordance with the constitution and federal law, I, as president of Russia, am obliged to protect lives and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are located,” Medvedev said, according to Russian news reports. “We won’t allow the death of our compatriots go unpunished.”

An AP reporter saw tanks and other heavy weapons concentrating on the Russian side of the border with South Ossetia — supporting the Russian TV reports of an incursion. Some villagers were fleeing into Russia.

Yakobashvili said Georgian forces had shot down four Russian combat planes over Georgian territory.

South Ossetia officials said Georgia attacked with aircraft, armour and heavy artillery. Georgian troops fired missiles at Tskhinvali, an official said, and many buildings were on fire.

Georgia’s president said Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities.

“A full-scale aggression has been launched against Georgia,” Saakashvili said in a televised statement. He also announced a full military mobilisation with reservists being called into action.