- Title: GEORGIA: Blasts in Gori kills at least 5: Wounded rushed to hospital
- Date: 12th August 2008
- Summary: (W3) ROAD BETWEEN GORI AND TBILISI, GEORGIA (AUGUST 12, 2008) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING PAST SHOP WOMAN SCREAMING IMMEDIATELY AFTER NEARBY AIRSTRIKE PAN FROM ROAD TO FIELD WITH SMOKE RISING PEOPLE WALKING ON ROAD POLICE CAR DRIVING ALONG ROAD PEOPLE LEAVING AREA IN CAR FIELD ON FIRE TRACTOR PUTTING OUT FIRE IN FIELD VARIOUS OF TRACTOR WITH SMOKE IN BACKGROUND (W3) ROAD BET
- Embargoed: 27th August 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Georgia
- Country: Georgia
- Topics: War / Fighting
- Reuters ID: LVABBWZ6LKSWEJE0TCBLYXZS7JJT
- Story Text: In Georgia, a series of explosions in the town of Gori on Tuesday (August 12) killed at least five civilians, a Reuters correspondent said. An analysis of television footage suggested the blasts were caused by mortars, although it was not clear who fired.
The attack which took place before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations, set buildings alight and engulfed parts of the town in black smoke.
A Reuters witness said blasts shook the roads in quick succession, gouging craters in the street and sending shrapnel flying through the air.
Broadcaster RTL later said a Dutch cameraman was among the dead and a correspondent wounded.
Filios Ftangos, journalist from a Greek TV channel said he had not seen any Georgian troops inside Gori.
"We never saw Georgian military inside Gori. And it was a blind hit aimed at terrorising civilian population," he said after rushing his wounded driver to hospital.
The fighting began last week when Georgia, a close U.S. ally, launched an offensive to retake the Russian-backed rebel region, which broke away from Georgian rule in 1992. Moscow responded with a huge counter-offensive.
The Reuters reporter said the Gori street shelled was near hillside areas where Russian aircraft had earlier in the day attacked Georgian artillery positions.
The artillery had fired on Russian positions on Monday (August 11) , but it was not clear if the guns had been withdrawn before a string of explosions peppered the hillside on Tuesday morning.
A UNHCR team which reached Gori, just south of the boundary with South Ossetia, was told by local officials on Sunday that up to 80 percent of the population had left the town, fearing further attacks.
Georgian troops were also seen abandoning the town in some disarray on Monday.
A convoy of civilian cars sped away from Gori on Tuesday, some of their occupants shouting "They're bombing, they're bombing!"
Putting further pressure on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, separatists in the Black Sea region of Abkhazia, west of the main war theatre, launched a push early on Tuesday to drive Georgian forces out of the Kodori Gorge -- the only area of that province under Georgian control.
Abkhazia's self-styled foreign minister Sergei Shamba said troops were making advances to liberate Kodori Gorge.
Abkhazia insisted Russian troops were not involved.
Emotions ran high on both sides after five days of conflict.
An opinion poll made available to Reuters, the first since the war started, showed nearly half of Russians now believed South Ossetia should be incorporated into Russia forever.
Russia says 1,600 South Ossetian civilians have been killed in the fighting and thousands are homeless but these figures have not been independently verified. Georgia has reported close to 200 killed and hundreds of wounded. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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