South Ossetia accuses Georgian policemen of casual arms handling

"An assertion published in Georgian media that two Georgian policemen were wounded at the blockpost in the village of Kekhvi as a result of fire launched by the Ossetian party has nothing to do with reality," Ms. Zema Kulumbegova, press service head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of South Ossetia (RSO), told the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot." According to clarified data, confirmed also at the RSO's Ministry of Defence, on October 9, a local Georgian citizen blew himself up by an explosion device. About an hour after the accident, four relatives of the wounded person drove in a car to a section of the Trancaucasian Highway near the village, and, by blocking the road, stopped the first coming car with South-Ossetian number plates. The four men in the car, mainly of elderly age, were beaten. With the aim to ensure safety, the section of the Trancaucasian Highway running across Georgian villages, the so-called "Northern Enclave," was cut by the respective services of South Ossetia and remains closed at the present time.

On that very day, in the territory of Georgian police post near the village of Kekhvi, an explosion of a tubular launcher grenade happened, and two policemen were injured. According to the MIA of the RSO, this incident became possible either as a result of a careless arms handling, or of a gripe session between the policemen.

It is previously known that the observers of the Mixed Peacekeeping Forces (MPKF) and OSCE do not exclude the grenade explosion due to careless actions of the policemen themselves.