Articles | Georgia accuses Russia of bombing

Russia 'bombing Georgian civilians'

Published: Friday, 8 August 2008, 8:57AM

Russia has been accused of bombing civilians in Georgia as the neighbours move towards full-scale war.

Kakha Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia's Security Council, said Russia had struck at the Black Sea port of Poti and a military base in the nearby city of Senaki.

He added: "We think Russia has started to bomb civil and economic infrastructure."

Georgia's Deputy Economic Development Minister Vato Lezhava said between eight and 11 Russian fighter jets hit container tankers and a shipbuilding plant in Poti.

President Mikheil Saakashvili is expected to declare martial law within hours as the conflict over the disputed border region of South Ossetia escalates.

A senior Georgian security official said Russian planes earlier bombed a military base near the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Russia launched its first military operation on foreign soil since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 after Georgia attacked pro-Russian separatists in South Ossetia.

The president of the breakaway republic, Eduard Kokoity, was quoted as saying about 1,400 people had been killed in the capital Tskhinvali as a result of "Georgian aggression".

The rebels said Russian armoured vehicles entered the region's capital in retaliation and the Georgians were retreating - but Saakashvili said the area was still under Georgian control.

The Kremlin has accused Georgia of carrying out a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in the region.

Mr Saakashvili said on television: "What Russia is doing in Georgia is open, unhidden aggression and a challenge to the whole world.

"If the whole world does not stop Russia today, then Russian tanks will be able to reach any other European capital."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity, and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil."