10:50
Georgian Forces Hold Defensive Positions in South of Conflict Zone – Official

Georgian forces are continuing to reinforce and maintain defensive positions in the south of the South Ossetian conflict zone, despite heavy artillery fire, a Georgian Interior Ministry official has said.

“We have pulled our troops from the conflict zone and now they are deployed in the south of the conflict zone, protecting Georgian villages and towns, although our positions are under attack, including from artillery fire,” Shota Utiashvili, a Ministry spokesman, said at a news conference this morning.

He also said that the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia has been under attack all night. “Our forces there are maintaining their positions and are not retreating,” Utiashvili said.

He also said that early this morning in Zugdidi, a Georgian town on the Abkhaz administrative border, the commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in the conflict zone had demanded that Georgian police surrender their arms. “That will not happen. Our police will remain there,” Utiashvili said.