Russia reportedly increases its military presence in south Caucasus amid news of Georgian armed movements near the troubled republics there. Georgian Interior Ministry, on Thursday, claimed '2,000 additional Russian troops have been deployed in South Ossetia' bringing the total number of Russian soldiers there to around 7,000. The reported increase comes while the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complains of suspicious Georgian movements around South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- the South Caucasian independence-leaning republics.
Lavrov warned that Georgia was 'periodically' sending 'special purpose units and other armed formations to' nearby areas. He suggested this could amount to use of force against the republics. "The EU monitors pay little attention to these aspects. We should not forget that the European Union acts as a guarantor of non-use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he added, RIA Novosti reported.
Spokeswoman for South Ossetian government, Irina Gagloyeva confirmed the Georgian movements saying, however, that "we feel safe with them (the Russian troops) around since we face continual provocations from the Georgian side.''
"The latest terrorist attack by Georgia," according to the Abkhazian Defense Minister, Mirab Kishmariya, resulted in the death of the head of the province's military intelligence Eduard Emin-zade and the landlord of the house in which the military official was found dead.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has rejected the charges while similarly accusing Russia of 'provocations'.