TSKHINVALI, South Ossetia. July 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian helicopters have twice violated the air space of the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia over the past two days, South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity told Interfax on Tuesday.
He said he had issued an order "to shoot down all planes that cross into the republic's air space from Georgia without the South Ossetian authorities' consent."
"Georgia has already been informed," said Kokoity.
He also said "the situation in the region is tense, and Georgian forces are reported to have been concentrated on the border of South Ossetia."
"It looks like the forces advocating military ways of settling political issues have gained the upper hand in Georgia," he said.
Meanwhile, the command of the Combined Peacekeeping Force in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict has reported that the number of air space violations from Georgia has increased.
"On Sunday, an MI-8 Hip helicopter without identification signs crossed into the conflict zone at 10:30 a.m. and at 5:30 p.m.," chief-of-staff of the mixed peacekeeping forces Gennady Seryshev told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday. On July 25, an unidentified helicopter violated the air space over the conflict zone near the peacekeepers' base outside the village of Avnevi.
"We have warned the Georgian command," he said.
Under the provision on operations of military contingents in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict dating from December 1994, no unidentified planes have the right to fly over the conflict zone without the consent of the peacekeepers' command and local authorities.
The headquarters of the mixed peacekeeping forces is located in Tskhinvali.