TBILISI. June 28 (Interfax) - Russian peacekeepers will not allow Georgian engineers to continue the construction of a country road between the Georgian villages of Avnevi and Nikozi.
"The road construction may be resumed only after authorized representatives of Georgia and South Ossetia reach an agreement," commander of the joint peacekeeping forces in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov told journalists.
According to the administration of the Shida Kartli district, up to ten peacekeeping armored personnel carriers have blocked movements of road-building machinery. Some 400 local residents have been trying to oust the peacekeepers from the construction site.
"The situation is very tense. OSCE's military observers have stayed on the spot," the Shida Kartli administration told Interfax.
Georgia's villages of Avnevi and Nikozi are situated in a Georgian enclave in South Ossetia, which is why the Georgian authorities made the decision to build the 20-kilometer road. The South Ossetian authorities oppose the construction, deeming the road to be of strategic import.