EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Georgian Port of Poti Bombed, Government Offices Evacuated

EURASIA INSIGHT

GORI, GEORGIAN PORT OF POTI BOMBED, GOVERNMENT OFFICES EVACUATED
8/09/08

Posted: 4:10am ET, August 9

Developing: Planes have bombed two apartment buildings in the Georgian city of Gori, just outside the South Ossetia conflict zone, a EurasiaNet reporter at the scene has reported. Casualties are not known.

Tbilisi awoke to an uneasy calm on August 9, amidst conflicting reports about the status of Tskhinvali and fighting between Georgian and South Ossetian, Russian forces.

"It's war," said one older woman, standing in a downtown courtyard. "That's all we know."

Over night, the Georgian interior ministry reported that Russian fighter jets had again struck the Vaziani military base outside of Tbilisi. Two muffled, reverberating booms were heard in downtown Tbilisi around midnight on August 9. A distant roar could be heard briefly in the Georgian capital around 9am on August 9, but quickly died down.

The reported strike followed on news of a critical attack for Georgia's economy - the Black Sea port of Poti, which handles oil shipments from the Caspian Sea. In an official statement, the government stated that the port had been "completely devastated."

"This act of aggression violates all international war conventions. . .," the statement read. "[T]he Russian Federation continues to undermine international law through its military operations in Georgia."

In response to the action, all government buildings in Tbilisi have been evacuated, a government spokesperson confirmed on August 9. Some international news services announced plans for a declaration of martial law, citing National Security Council Chairperson Kakha Lomaia. As of morning on August 9, however, such an action had not been taken.

Among other reported fresh strikes: a military base at Senaki, in western Georgia, and points in the Upper Kodori Gorge, a section of breakaway Abkhazia controlled by Georgia.

The interior ministry had earlier stated that Georgian forces had shot down two Russian combat planes on August 8. The information could not be verified.

In a bid to break the influx of Russian military equipment, Georgian forces have reportedly blown up a bridge linking South Ossetia with the neighboring Russian region of North Ossetia, unconfirmed reports state. Sources in the area have told one Georgian television journalist that Georgian forces now surround Java, a South Ossetian district north of Tskhinvali, and are being bombarded by artillery.

Meanwhile, both sides continue to claim control over Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital.

The Russian news agency Interfax quoted South Ossetian separatist spokesperson Irina Gagloyeva as saying at 1:30am on August 9 that "a powerful barrage from all types of weaponry, everything almost like yesterday" was going on. Gagloyeva could not be reached from Tbilisi for comment.

Late on August 8, the Georgian interior ministry confirmed that shelling of Tskhinvali was ongoing.

Within Tbilisi, attention is also focusing on what will be the international community's response. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has called for Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgian territory, cease its bombing attacks, and for an immediate cease-fire to be observed. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza is expected to join European colleagues in devising a strategy to mediate an end to the conflict.

"The EU is working with other actors to achieve a ceasefire in order to prevent an extension of the conflict," the European Union said in a statement issued on August 8. In conjunction with that effort, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has announced plans to send a special envoy to Georgia.

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