Troops from the former Soviet republic of Georgia launched new attacks on the breakaway territory of South Ossetia late Thursday after a top government official said a unilateral cease-fire offer was met with artillery fire.
"The objective of the operation is to protect the civilian population, to ensure their security and then convince the separatists that there is not a military solution to this conflict," said Alexander Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia's National Security Council.

Lomaia said Georgian troops were responding proportionately to separatist mortar and artillery attacks on two villages -- attacks he said followed a Thursday evening cease-fire and call for negotiations by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

"There were up to 10 people killed, including peacekeepers and the peaceful population, and up to 23 people wounded, including four of them wounded quite badly," Lomaia said. But he said Georgia wants a peaceful solution to the conflict and is leaving the door open to negotiations and has offered the territory "the widest possible autonomy."

The official news agency of the South Ossetian government reported heavy shelling in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, that left dozens of buildings ablaze.

Lomaia said Georgian troops have no plans to reclaim control over the territory as part of the operation launched Thursday night -- but he said how far they advance "is really dependent on how the situation evolves on the ground."

"Obviously, there will be a moment when we will be forced to respond, we will be forced to advance in order to prevent such bombardment," he said. "But at the time being, there is no such aim of the operation."

The latest developments follow a week of sporadic clashes between the Georgian central government and authorities in South Ossetia, which declared its independence from Georgia in the early 1990s after a bloody ethnic conflict between Georgians and Ossetians.

Georgia, located on the Black Sea coast between Russia and Turkey, has been split by Russian-backed separatist movements in South Ossetia and another region, Abkhzia. Neither region's government has international recognition.

On Thursday, Georgia's foreign ministry laid blame for the latest round of violence on Russia.

Georgia wish to join NATO.
Russia has been giving Russian passports to the separatists.

Reports are now saying Russian fighter planes are bombing Georgian positions.

Background

 

The tensions in the region began to rise amid the rising nationalism among both Georgians and Ossetians in 1989. Prior to this, the two communities of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast of Georgian SSR had been living in peace with each other except for the 1918-1920 events.

Both ethnicities have had a high level of interaction and high rates of intermarriages. ] Influential South Ossetian Popular Front (Ademon Nykhas) was created in 1988.

On 10 November 1989 South Ossetian regional council asked the Georgian Supreme Soviet for the region to be upgraded to autonomous republic.

In 1989 the Georgian Supreme Soviet established Georgian as the principal language countrywide. The Georgian Supreme Soviet adopted a law barring regional parties in summer 1990.
This was interpreted by Ossetians as a move against Ademon Nykhas and led to Ossetians proclaiming South Ossetia a Soviet Democratic Republic, fully sovereign within the USSR. Ossetians boycotted subsequent Georgian parliamentary elections and held their own contest in December.

The Georgian government headed by Zviad Gamsakhurdia declared this election illegitimate and abolished South Ossetia's autonomous status altogether on 11 December, 1990.

Violent conflict broke out towards the end of 1991 during which many South Ossetian villages were attacked and burned down as well as Georgian houses and schools in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. As a result, approximately 1,000 died and about 100,000 ethnic Ossetians fled the territory and Georgia proper, most across the border into North Ossetia. A further 23,000 ethnic Georgians fled South Ossetia and settled in other parts of Georgia.

Many South Ossetians were resettled in uninhabited areas of North Ossetia from which the Ingush had been expelled by Stalin in 1944, leading to conflicts between Ossetians and Ingush over the right of residence in former Ingush territory.

In 1992, Georgia was forced to accept a ceasefire to avoid a large scale confrontation with Russia.

The government of Georgia and South Ossetian separatists reached an agreement to avoid the use of force against one another, and Georgia pledged not to impose sanctions against South Ossetia.
However, the Georgian government still retains control over substantial portions of South Ossetia, including the town of Akhalgori. A peacekeeping force of Ossetians, Russians and Georgians was established. On November 6, 1992, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) set up a Mission in Georgia to monitor the peacekeeping operation.
From then, until mid-2004 South Ossetia was generally peaceful. In June 2004, tensions began to rise as the Georgian authorities strengthened their efforts against smuggling in the region. The Georgian government protests against the continually increasing Russian economic and political presence in the region, as well as the uncontrolled military of the South Ossetian side. It also considers the peacekeeping force to be non-neutral and demanded its replacement.