The South Ossetian capital city of Tskhinvali, still recovering from the heavy shelling in last year’s Georgian invasion, was hit again yesterday by two shells fired from the Georgian village of Nikozi, according to the South Ossetian government. Though there were no reported casualties the incident is likely to keep tensions between the Georgian government and the breakaway enclave high.
The Georgian government has officially denied that such an incident took place, and followed that up with an accusation that the South Ossetians had kidnapped two OSCE ceasefire monitors. The OSCE declined comment, though the EU did say that two monitors were briefly detained near the border and had already been released.
The home of a long-time separatist movement, South Ossetia became independent after an August invasion by the Georgian military was repelled by Russian forces. Russia recognized the enclave’s independence after the war, though the United States has vowed to prevent the recognition in the international community.