Car Bomb Kills 7 Russian Soldiers

by Ese Omofoma
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

TBILISI, Georgia - A car bomb killed seven Russian peacekeepers on Friday right outside Russia's military headquarters in South Ossetia.

The explosion comes days before a scheduled pullback of Russian troops from Georgian territory.

Eduard Kokoity, South Ossetia's President, said he had, "no doubt that Georgian special forces were behind the explosion.  He added, "the last terrorist attack in South Ossetia proves that Georgia has not abandoned the policy of state terrorism." Kokoity believes the acts undermine international efforts to stabilize the situation and torpedo the Medvedev Sarkozy plan.

The Russian Defense Ministry states that Russian peacekeepers in an ethnic village in Georgia stopped two cars carrying firearms and grenades on Friday.  After detaining four men who did not have any documents, one of the cars exploded during a search.

Shota Utiashvili, head of the analysis department for Georgia's Interior Ministry, said Georgia was not involved. Utiashvili believed the attack was part of a strategy to delay the planned withdrawal.

"What we are seeing from the Russians over the last few days is that they are trying to drag their feet over the withdrawal.  We feel that this is part of the effort to delay the withdrawal," said Utiashvili.

The car bombing marked the most serious violence in the region since the brief war that broke out in South Ossetia in August between Russia and Georgia.

Under the cease fire agreement brokered by French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian troops are to withdraw from buffer zones around South Ossetia and Abkhazia within 10 days of  the Oct. 1 arrival of EU monitors.

However, Russia plans on keeping 3,800 soldiers in South Ossetia and 3,800 soldiers in Abkhazia, a presence that U.S., NATO, and EU say violates its obligation to withdrawal under the cease-fire agreement.

For more information, please see:

AFP - Seven Russian troops die in Ossetia car bomb attack - 3 October 2008

AP - Blast kills 7 Russian soldiers in South Ossetia - 3 October 2008

New York Times - Explosion Kills 7 Russians in South Ossetia - 3 October 2008