Russia/Georgia

Seven Russian soldiers killed in Georgia bombing

Article published on the 2008-10-03 Latest update 2008-10-04 09:14 TU

A Russian soldier mans a checkpoint west of Tbilisi
(Photo: Reuters)

Seven Russian soldiers were killed on Friday in an apparent car bomb attack near the Russian force headquarters in the volatile Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia, Russian and local officials said. Seven others were wounded. Local officials said that the Russian officers were killed after security forces seized a suspect Georgian vehicle which turned out to be packed with explosives.

The car subsequently blew up near their main base.

Russian authorities have reacted angrily to the bombing. Describing it as "a terrorist attack", the Ministry of Defence said that the attack was designed to undermine a peace accord between Russia and Georgia, following this summer's war.

Tbilisi has denied responsibility for the attack.

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashivili instead suggested that it was part of a plot to keep Russian soldiers on Georgian territory.

 

The violence comes less than a month after French President Nicolas Sarkozy, acting president of the European Council, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed a timetable for Russian forces to pull out of undisputed Georgian territory by October 10.

 

A European Union mission of 200 observers arrived in the region earlier this week to ensure that both Georgia and Russia complied with the deal.

 

Thousands of Russian soldiers remain in South Ossetia and another Georgian rebel province, Abkhazia, and are also in "buffer zone" positions outside those provinces in undisputed Georgian territory.

 

President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday reiterated that Russian forces would pull out of the undisputed territory next week in accordance with the EU plan.

 

South Ossetian spokespeople questioned by reporters were unable to shed light on the identity of the owners of the car involved in today's incident, nor on why the car had been taken from them, but said that it could be assumed that the incident was a deliberate attack.

 

The wounded were evacuated by helicopter and taken to defence ministry hospitals in Russia.