Woman wounded during military exercises

A woman, living the Georgian village of Argvitsi, Tamar Gambashidze, was wounded by a shell fragment on June 22, during scheduled military exercises conducted by the South Osetian Ministry of Defense in the vicinity of the village of Pris. The woman was making her way to a spring for water. Right after it Georgian Interior Minister Irakly Okruashvili issued a statement offering in the form of an ultimatum to deliver up the one guilty of the incident to Georgian law enforcement agencies within 48 hours. "Otherwise I personally will lead any action, including a special operation, to detain this man and bring him into the hands of the Georgian justice, no matter how much it will cost me," Mr Okruashvili said.

According to information of the spokesperson for the Osetian peacekeeping battalion, Ms Beppiyeva, the Peacekeeping Forces Command, including the Georgian battalion, was informed of the exercises in advance. It is worth noting that the first shot during the exercises was fired at 3 p.m., and at 4 p.m. the Imedi TV channel broadcast a report from the hospital where the wounded woman was already being operated on and the minister's statement. Thus, the Osetian side rates the happening as a provocation and considers Mr Okruashvili's statement inappropriate since the exercises were conducted in the zone controlled by the Combined Peacekeeping Forces. It means that all incidents taking place here must be settled through the Combined Control Commission and the Combined Peacekeeping Forces.