| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Blasts in Georgia Hit Train, 2 People |
| 2008-08-26 |
| A large explosion Sunday morning destroyed a train carrying oil through this town in central Georgia, engulfing mangled cars in a tower of flames. Georgian officials said they suspected Russian forces had mined the track or an adjacent military base. Earlier in the day, separate blasts in the area killed a woman near a military installation and critically injured a man. The explosions came as Georgians returned en masse for the first time to parts of the country briefly occupied and then abandoned Friday by Russian forces. During fighting this month, Russian forces used cluster munitions, many of which remain unexploded, and blew up several military facilities and a key railroad bridge. "I am sure the Russians have left other surprises for us," said Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for Georgia's Interior Ministry. "They want to disrupt our life and our economy as much as possible." All day Sunday, Georgians poured into Gori, the largest city the Russians held during the conflict, which ignited when Georgian forces attacked the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia on Aug. 7. Russian forces then drove them from the disputed region and seized up to a third of Georgia. Russia withdrew from some of that territory Friday, but Georgian and international officials say Russian forces remain in violation of a French-brokered cease-fire that called for withdrawal from all Georgian land. Gori's Stalin Square, named for the former Soviet dictator who is the city's most famous son, became a large bus depot Sunday. Yellow coaches bearing residents arrived on a highway congested with returnees who had fled to outlying areas to escape the fighting. They loaded large packages full of belongings into taxis and returned home, some for the first time in two weeks. A young girl stepped off a bus tightly clutching a stuffed tiger about her size. |
| Posted by:Fred |